Israel rejects U.S. call for 1967 borders

[News_Editor]

Israel rejects U.S. call for 1967 borders

2011-05-20 06:05:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday rejected the U.S. call for a two state solution with Palestine based on the 1967 borders, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

Earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama called for a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict based on the mutual recognition and the 1967 borders. Obama also condemned the Israeli settlement construction in the disputed West bank area.

"Israel appreciates President's Obama commitment to peace," Netanyahu said, "But the 1967 borders will leave a large population of Israelis in Judea and Samaria and outside Israel's borders."

Netanyahu also said that he expects Obama to refrain from demanding Israel to base the solution on the "indefensible" 1867 borders. The PM will meet Obama in Washington D.C. on Friday.

The Premier added that he will ask Obama to reaffirm the U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which allowed Israel to keep larger settlement blocs as part a peace deal with the Palestinians.

"The viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of Israel's existence," said the Israeli PM before heading to Washington D.C.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for an urgent meeting following the speech of President Obama. Abbas welcomed the US efforts to reach a comprehensive solution to the conflict.

Hamas, the other major Palestinian faction, called on the Palestinian Authority not to trust the speech and instead coordinate the factions to confront the "U.S.-Israeli arrogance," as said by spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

The Israel-Palestine talks have been stalled since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend a moratorium on settlement building in occupied Palestinian territory in September 2010.

Israel resumed settlement constructions even though they were labeled as a violation of international law by the international community. In response, President Abbas broke off direct talks as recommended by Hamas.

On May 4, Fatah, Hamas and all other Palestinian factions signed an historic unity deal in Cairo. As a result, the Hamas-led government in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank will be dissolved and replaced by a single cabinet of independent technocrats.

Israel urged the Palestinian Authority to choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas as there "is no possibility for peace with both." Hamas said that the unity government will be formed within ten days but so far factions have not agreed on a cabinet and elections were delayed.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-20

[Ulysses G.]

President Barack Hussein Obama the Capitulator will go down in history with Neville Chamberlain the appeaser of fascist Germany.

Put him out with the rubbish in 2012!

Edited May 20, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Steely Dan]

Obama has to either be a monumentally naeive idiot or a cunning machiavelian schemer who desires the destruction of Israel. This comes against a backdrop of Hamas having essentially shunted Fatah aside and are now dictating Palestinian policy. The drop in suicide bombings since the end of the second intifada are a direct consequence of settlement building and the security fence joining them.

I can only hope Obama gets kicked out of office asap before he can do any more damage.

[electau]

President Barack Hussein Obama the Capitulator will go down in history with Neville Chamberlain the appeaser of fascist Germany.

Put him out with the rubbish in 2012!

Appeasement is a perfectly legitimate process, it gives time.

Edited May 20, 2011 by electau

[Ulysses G.]

Tell Winston Churchill that.

Edited May 20, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[bobbin]

Tough love.

The usual supporters of "Israel right or wrong" will of course be having conniptions.

The American people are ready to endorse this strategy. Not one American who I have spoken to in person about this issue will have a problem with this.

[Ulysses G.]

Horse manure. All the polls say that Americans support Israel over the "Palestinians". Your friends at Code Pink and International A.N.S.W.E.R. are not typical Americans.

Edited May 20, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[bobbin]

Horse manure. All the polls say that Americans support Israel over the "Palestinians".

No, that's not the point. America has supported Israel unconditionally for decades. What do they have to show for it?

Let's watch this play out.

No different than the "War on Drugs". Years of doing the same thing with no victory in sight. Time for re-evaluation of the situation. The ideologues are incapable of believing that any other viewpoint is valid.

[bobbin]

Cue mud-slinging and two-bit cheap shots.

[Ulysses G.]

The American people are ready to endorse this strategy.

So, in other words, this is not true. It is just left-wing fantasy.

Edited May 20, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[bobbin]

The American people are ready to endorse this strategy.

So, in other words, this is not true. It is just left-wing fantasy.

Your words, not mine. I contend, as I did above, that this policy adjustment has legs.

And don't be so deliberately obtuse as to say that this is Obama's idea. He is the spokesperson. Multiple layers of government have advised on this issue.

[nontabury]

Obama has to either be a monumentally naeive idiot or a cunning machiavelian schemer who desires the destruction of Israel. This comes against a backdrop of Hamas having essentially shunted Fatah aside and are now dictating Palestinian policy. The drop in suicide bombings since the end of the second intifada are a direct consequence of settlement building and the security fence joining them.

I can only hope Obama gets kicked out of office asap before he can do any more damage.

The quicker the faciast in Isreal go back to the 1967 boarder, the better for everybody,knock down all these illigal settlements,(as per UN resolutions)the Palestines and the Isrealies,will one day have to live in peace as good neigbours.For far to long the Americans have been supporting Isreal instead of supporting peace.

[kuffki]

Obama has to either be a monumentally naeive idiot or a cunning machiavelian schemer who desires the destruction of Israel. This comes against a backdrop of Hamas having essentially shunted Fatah aside and are now dictating Palestinian policy. The drop in suicide bombings since the end of the second intifada are a direct consequence of settlement building and the security fence joining them.

I can only hope Obama gets kicked out of office asap before he can do any more damage.

The quicker the faciast in Isreal go back to the 1967 boarder, the better for everybody,knock down all these illigal settlements,(as per UN resolutions)the Palestines and the Isrealies,will one day have to live in peace as good neigbours.For far to long the Americans have been supporting Isreal instead of supporting peace.

Could you please elaborate how to police the new so called borders?

What plan do you propose to undertake? besides knocking down the houses?

Who and how would provide security for the Jews living there? Or do you propose Israel throws out the 1.5 million arabs living on Israels land or would you prefer that those left living in the NEW so called Palestine will be just killed since PA has no ability or control to police and provide security

How do you propose to set up Jerusalem? what and how to police the borders?

And last and pretty much most importantly, since Hamas already made a statement that they want PRE-1967 borders, more like 1948 borders or no Israel at all, Please tell us again, why Israel should go to 1968 borders? which will not solve anything(as already stated by Hamas)

and why should Israel do anything, if Hamas refused to recognize Israel

If you do not mind, please answer every question i put to you in detail and specifically without answering question with a question or going off topic. But a realistic, rational answer please.

I think its safe to presume you will provide just that, since you were able to call Israel "faciast", so no doubt you will provide coherent and detail answer.

Thank you in advance

[homeslice]

The American people are ready to endorse this strategy.

So, in other words, this is not true. It is just left-wing fantasy.

Your words, not mine. I contend, as I did above, that this policy adjustment has legs.

And don't be so deliberately obtuse as to say that this is Obama's idea. He is the spokesperson. Multiple layers of government have advised on this issue.

It's true many American people are ready to endorse this strategy, and Obama is trying to get re-elected, but this is what I think is really happening.

America had a secret agreement with Pakistan about the capture of OBL. Pakistan puts up a great fuss about American military action on their soil, but nothing changes.

We probably have a similar agreement with Israel. Obama makes a statement that he wants Israel to go back to a 12 mile plot of land, something that he knows will not happen, Israel yells, screams and puts on a big show, the media pays attention to the issue, and something else happens, like Obama appealing to his base.

If you look at recent history Obama flew down to El Paso, Texas and made a speech about immigration reform, appealing to a Hispanic voter base that largely votes democratic. He invited a controversial black rapper to perform at the White House, appealing to the black population, which largely votes democratic.

It's true that Obama has been advised, and probably by some people in government, but the people he really listens to are the powers that be; I know some of them and they are staunch Zionists. He would not make a move like this without having a game plan in place, because without it, he cuts off his funding for his election.

Let's hope that this is just an appeal to a voter base and something more ominous is not in play.

[RKASA]

The American people are ready to endorse this strategy.

So, in other words, this is not true. It is just left-wing fantasy.

Your words, not mine. I contend, as I did above, that this policy adjustment has legs.

And don't be so deliberately obtuse as to say that this is Obama's idea. He is the spokesperson. Multiple layers of government have advised on this issue.

You may recall that in 67 these borders were not acceptable to the point of being attacked by several counties at the same time. Why would rewarding them and giving back and giving in change that. You only end up with a smaller front line and the same issue as before and at present. Short term memory it seems to me. Do you really think they are going to say hey OK we changed our mind we no longer want to wipe you from the face of the earth - maybe just wipe you from inside the 67 borders then?

"Multiple layers of government have advised on this issue" you mean Obama yes men and women like Hillery. It has no legs, logic or reason for that matter. Kind of a stab in the back.

[electau]

Tell Winston Churchill that.

Churchill did not become PM until 1940. Great Britain was not ready to go to war over Munich. But we did in Sept 1939 when Gemany invaded Poland.

This gave Great Britain what is now termed "the moral high ground". The US did not enter the war until Dec 1941 and it was Germany who declared war on the US.

The official policy of the US Goverment since 1948 has always been to support the Israelis along with its Western Allies.

The US President is just another political "Talking Head" It is the State Dept and others who do the real work of goverance internationally.

Edited May 20, 2011 by electau

[Jingthing]

Remember the Washington Post is a LIBERAL newspaper.

Their editorial board clearly thinks the Palestinian leader Abbas is seeking WAR.

Reading this you may get a different perspective about the news in the OP -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mahmoud-abbass-formula-for-war/2011/05/18/AFsdUl6G_story.html

Meanwhile, short shrift is given, as usual, to Netanyahu’s putative partner. Yet the leader of the Palestinian “moderate” branch, Mahmoud Abbas, is not only refusing to make any concessions of his own but is also turning his back on American diplomacy — and methodically setting the stage for another Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

...

Now Abbas is trying to transform the Arab Spring into a mass movement against Israel. It’s a maneuver that he knows will not bring peace, but it spares him, at age 76, from bearing the responsibility for making the concessions — on refugees, for example — necessary for a deal with Israel. If he succeeds, he could trigger not just another intifada but another Middle East war. Preventing this requires urgent and concerted U.S. action — and not just another scrape with Bibi Netanyahu.

[Renbe]

The wheels of justice are grinding slowly but surely. Sooner or later justice will prevail, and Israel has to give back what it stole decades ago. Sooner or later the Palestinians will get what is rightfully theirs. Israel has been fooling the world for too long a time now, I am pleasantly surprised to finally see an American President telling like it is, instead of appeasing the Zionist Israel lobbyists of the AIPAC and other Anti-American organizations. Israel has made itself a burden to the USA and a disgrace to the world, it is time that it is put in its place!

[Wallaby]

Seems Obama is copping the brunt of critisism for what the international community believes is the right thing to do. Israel is slowly but inevitably becoming the pariah and the usual suspects will blame anyone and everyone but Israel. Obviously Israel's tactics have not worked and it is time they changed their tune to come into line with the international community.

Israel resumed settlement constructions even though they were labeled as a violation of international law by the international community.

[kuffki]

Israels's tactic has not worked?

Who is doing all the whining?and making unrealistic demands being well aware it's not going to happen.

Not to mention, not even one word or mention of a plan on how to implement.

I wonder why that is? Perhaps you can tell me! Or we can always wait for the usual quartet to come and post some useless links, instead of the actual plan

Seems Obama is copping the brunt of critisism for what the international community believes is the right thing to do. Israel is slowly but inevitably becoming the pariah and the usual suspects will blame anyone and everyone but Israel. Obviously Israel's tactics have not worked and it is time they changed their tune to come into line with the international community.

Israel resumed settlement constructions even though they were labeled as a violation of international law by the international community.

[Jingthing]

The USA showing support for 1967 borders. Nothing new about this at all. Nothing radical about this at all. Nothing extreme left wing about this at all. It's a mainstream American position and has been for many years. The republican right wing is already ACTING like this is a huge policy change, but they are just lying as usual for political purposes.

This has been the basic idea for at least 12 years. This is what Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat were talking about at Camp David, and later, at Taba. This is what George W. Bush was talking about with Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert. So what’s the huge deal here? Is there any non-delusional Israeli who doesn’t think that the 1967 border won’t serve as the rough outline of the new Palestinian state?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/emerging-right-wing-line-obama-threw-israel-under-the-bus/2011/03/03/AFulAL7G_blog.html

Next ...

[johna]

Its probably not going to happen with the power Jews have in American politics, but its the right thing to do.

If this Arab Awakening brings Democracy to the Arab world it will have a far greater impact on the Israel/Palestinian conflict than American foreign policy.

[Wallaby]

The USA showing support for 1967 borders. Nothing new about this at all. Nothing radical about this at all. Nothing extreme left wing about this at all. It's a mainstream American position and has been for many years. The republican right wing is already ACTING like this is a huge policy change, but they are just lying as usual for political purposes.

This has been the basic idea for at least 12 years. This is what Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat were talking about at Camp David, and later, at Taba. This is what George W. Bush was talking about with Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert. So what's the huge deal here? Is there any non-delusional Israeli who doesn't think that the 1967 border won't serve as the rough outline of the new Palestinian state?

http://www.washingto...lAL7G_blog.html

Next ...

Makes you wonder why some on here are crying into their cornflakes then.

[Jingthing]

Its probably not going to happen with the power Jews have in American politics, but its the right thing to do.

If this Arab Awakening brings Democracy to the Arab world it will have a far greater impact on the Israel/Palestinian conflict than American foreign policy.

I find your comment offensive. Typical its the Jews fault rhetoric, as old as the hills and just as dirty. Jews don't control American politics and they are only a tiny minority there. That fact is that a large majority of Americans remain strongly pro Israel, mostly non-Jews, and also being for the 1967 borders is not a reflection of being anti-Israel. I consider Obama to be pro Israel as was GW Bush. They both support the 1967 borders (as do I). How that is to come about and how it can happen without WAR; now that is a serious question and if there is war, don't think for a second it is only Israels or America's fault. Edited May 20, 2011 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

The USA showing support for 1967 borders. Nothing new about this at all. Nothing radical about this at all. Nothing extreme left wing about this at all. It's a mainstream American position and has been for many years. The republican right wing is already ACTING like this is a huge policy change, but they are just lying as usual for political purposes.

This has been the basic idea for at least 12 years. This is what Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat were talking about at Camp David, and later, at Taba. This is what George W. Bush was talking about with Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert. So what's the huge deal here? Is there any non-delusional Israeli who doesn't think that the 1967 border won't serve as the rough outline of the new Palestinian state?

http://www.washingto...lAL7G_blog.html

Next ...

Makes you wonder why some on here are crying into their cornflakes then.

No mystery to me. Republicans/right wingers wanting to dump Obama, that's all. Edited May 20, 2011 by Jingthing

[Wallaby]

Israels's tactic has not worked?

Who is doing all the whining?and making unrealistic demands being well aware it's not going to happen.

Not to mention, not even one word or mention of a plan on how to implement.

I wonder why that is? Perhaps you can tell me! Or we can always wait for the usual quartet to come and post some useless links, instead of the actual plan

Seems Obama is copping the brunt of critisism for what the international community believes is the right thing to do. Israel is slowly but inevitably becoming the pariah and the usual suspects will blame anyone and everyone but Israel. Obviously Israel's tactics have not worked and it is time they changed their tune to come into line with the international community.

Israel resumed settlement constructions even though they were labeled as a violation of international law by the international community.

No, Israel's tactics have not worked. If it worked then you wouldn't be on here crying about it.

I don't know why you concern yourself with how this will all happen, unless of course you have a high enough government clearance and the 'need to know'. Just accept that the tide has turned against Israel because of its policies and no amount of bleating by the minority will change it.

[cheeryble]

Tell Winston Churchill that.

Churchill did not become PM until 1940. Great Britain was not ready to go to war over Munich. But we did in Sept 1939 when Gemany invaded Poland.

This gave Great Britain what is now termed "the moral high ground". The US did not enter the war until Dec 1941 and it was Germany who declared war on the US.

Chamberlain was not quite as gullible as people think. He waved the piece of paper to make it publicly more egregious for Hitler to go back on it.

The official policy of the US Goverment since 1948 has always been to support the Israelis along with its Western Allies.

The US President is just another political "Talking Head" It is the State Dept and others who do the real work of goverance internationally.

Isn't the State Dept called Little Jerusalem?

As the abominable Netanyahu was heard to "whisper" to an aide when Obama was making an early speech......"This guy doesn't get it does he?"

The "it" being that the Jewish Lobby would get their way like they always have.

I will agree that Netanyahu with his housestaff-abusing wife is marginally better than one man. The number two Avigdor Liebermann who offered to personally pay for the buses to go drown the Palestinian prisoners in Israel. And yet the US egregiously supports Israel through thick and thin incredibly including blatant 100 for 1 collective murder of Gaza residents. Because they have no choice.

You remember Hilary last year absolutely furious with Israel. Until next day even in her fury she woke up to the realities of US politics and changed her tune to the same old "Israel is our closest ally blah blah....'

Cheeryble

Edited May 20, 2011 by cheeryble

[coma]

This is good news for the Palestinian people and all Arabs around the world. Yet Israel is still trying to deny the inevitable. Best they come back to the table and save as much land as the Palestinian will allow them to keep. With the Arab world joining together it would be best to settle this long, drawn out problem and establish a Palestinian State as soon as possible and by peaceful mean. If not I fear a major confict in the region. A conflict that will have no winners.

I can see all the pro Israeli's here venting their own anger at Mr Obamas decision. They too are in denial.

[Jingthing]

Isn't the State Dept called Little Jerusalem?

First I heard it. Source please? Called by who? Hamas?

[webfact]

Leno: Obama wants Israel to go back to pre-1967 borders. Now Native Americans are demanding Obama go back to pre-1492 borders /via@latimestot /via@mpoppel