Obama knows that the 1967 borders

[Anonymous]

are too much for the Israelis to give up and too little for the Palestinians to accept.
Why get involved in this mess? Just do some summits and shake hands and make statements like "Israel has the right to defend herself", and "the Palestinians need to embrace democracy and peace", and ride it out.

[Anonymous]

I think you are right that in the end this will probably cause him a lot of problems and is unlikely to pay off, but I think he felt as though with the Palestinians applying for UN membership, and the Arab Spring, it was worth taking the chance and trying move things forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:are too much for the Israelis to give up and too little for the Palestinians to accept.
Why get involved in this mess? Just do some summits and shake hands and make statements like "Israel has the right to defend herself", and "the Palestinians need to embrace democracy and peace", and ride it out.

The domestic problems are too tough, which is why most presidents end up trying to be more involved foreign affairs hoping that it will keep the heat off unfilled domestic campaign promises.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:are too much for the Israelis to give up and too little for the Palestinians to accept.
Why get involved in this mess? Just do some summits and shake hands and make statements like "Israel has the right to defend herself", and "the Palestinians need to embrace democracy and peace", and ride it out.

Every peace proposal since 1967 has been based on the 1967 borders. There is absolutely nothing new about that.

Also, I love your proposal: Israel can do whatever it wants and the Palestinians have to accept it. Talk about non-starters.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:are too much for the Israelis to give up and too little for the Palestinians to accept.
Why get involved in this mess? Just do some summits and shake hands and make statements like "Israel has the right to defend herself", and "the Palestinians need to embrace democracy and peace", and ride it out.

Every peace proposal since 1967 has been based on the 1967 borders. There is absolutely nothing new about that.

Also, I love your proposal: Israel can do whatever it wants and the Palestinians have to accept it. Talk about non-starters.

That aint my suggestion, it is just the way things seem to be!

[Anonymous]

Do you think the current budget problems will result in a cuts in aid(all types) to Israel and/or other countries in the area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think the current budget problems will result in a cuts in aid(all types) to Israel and/or other countries in the area?

No, why should they suffer when we can.

[Anonymous]

Obama is stating what has always been the starting point. Note that he did not say "1967 borders" but 1967 borders plus land swaps. This is old news. Even Netanyahu supports that.

But what Obama did was to position Israel and Palestinians as equals - equal in their legitimate rights and equal in their responsibility for the problem. That parity drives the Israel lobby crazy.

Everyone knows that for a peace agreement to be reached, the U.S. needs to start putting pressure on Israel. Obama just waved a feather at them, and even then they are screaming and threatening to get donors to abandon him for 2012.

Screw it, Obama can raise enough money. He can go over the top of the lobby. Some president has to do it, and he can do it.

[Anonymous]

I get the feeling the Israelis think of America as their servants.
Why all this constant praise for Israel, when in return they treat us like dirt.
Netanyahu expanded settlements on purpose when he was told not to do so. And after all that we have done for them?
Maybe we should completely bail out and leave them to their own divices. They can ask Nato for help when they need it

[Anonymous]

I don't understand te vilification of Palestinians when they're dying in greater numbers than Israelis. Someone, please explain this to me. Seriously.

Israel's ignoring of UN, UK, EU and US condemnation and the Geneva Conventions and international law is ridiculous. We've imposed sanctions over less. Yet, we just keep sending money to Israel and they use it to do terrible things.

[Anonymous]

If anyone can recommend an authoritative, minimally biased recent publication that lays out the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, I'd really appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If anyone can recommend an authoritative, minimally biased recent publication that lays out the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, I'd really appreciate it.

Me too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the feeling the Israelis think of America as their servants.
Why all this constant praise for Israel, when in return they treat us like dirt.
Netanyahu expanded settlements on purpose when he was told not to do so. And after all that we have done for them?
Maybe we should completely bail out and leave them to their own divices. They can ask Nato for help when they need it

I do not think it is exactly that they think of us as servants. I think they are almost paranoid that the U.S. political will will turn at some point. But they are shameless and aggressive about it. They apply constant pressure to the U.S., they don't give an inch in the relationship, they research domestic attitudes toward Israel. This is not the friendship of two like-minded democracies who are trading partners. It is an adversarial alliance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If anyone can recommend an authoritative, minimally biased recent publication that lays out the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, I'd really appreciate it.

Me too.

UN created Israel in 1948. Palestinians are mad.

[Anonymous]

UN created Israel on Palestinian occupied land and forced marched Palestinians out to make room for the surviving Euroopean Jews. If it was me, I too would have murder in my heart and blood on my hands.