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At Odds with Washington

(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - The U.S. president made it clear that his country would not cooperate with the Palestinian push for a UN General Assembly declaration recognizing a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines. Negotiation with Israel, not UN recognition, is the only route to Palestinian statehood, Obama said, reflecting consistent U.S. policy. However, while there were no signs that he was threatening or pressuring Israel, Obama did say that a two-state solution should be based on the 1967 lines, a clear endorsement of Palestinian demands. Obama claimed that the Arab Spring offered a unique opportunity to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In contrast, Netanyahu has presented what is in our opinion a more sober, realistic assessment. The instability running rampant in the region illustrates how easily regimes, including a newly founded Palestinian state, can suddenly be toppled and potentially taken over by Islamic extremists like Hamas. Problematic, too, was Obama's declaration that the sides should relaunch talks focusing initially on borders and security, leaving the "emotional" issues of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees for later. Israel's position has long been that such an order of business could enable the Palestinians to "pocket" the Israeli territorial concessions involved in border agreements without withdrawing their demand for a "right of return" for millions of Palestinians - which is the destruction of the Jewish state by demographic means.
2011-05-20 00:00:00
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