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U.S. President Says Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Not the Root of the Region's Problems

(Israel Hayom) Zalman Shoval - President Barack Obama told the UN General Assembly last week, "The situation in Iraq and Syria and Libya should cure anybody of the illusion that the Arab-Israeli conflict is the main source of problems in the region. For far too long, that's been used as an excuse to distract people from problems at home." For many years now Israel's public policy efforts have focused on shattering the claim that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the root of all the problems in the Middle East, not to mention America's problems with the Arab world, when President Obama comes along with an outright and emphatic statement, the interpretation of which clearly means that we have been right all along. No longer will we hear that "the road to Baghdad runs through Jerusalem," or "American soldiers are risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan because the Palestinian problem has not been resolved." It is possible that the president simply arrived at the logical and necessary conclusion that the spreading chaos in the Middle East, which also threatens to spill over into Europe and the U.S., is too severe and dangerous for them to continue hiding behind the excuse provided by the Palestinian issue. The writer is a former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.
2014-10-03 00:00:00
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