I wouldn’t call Obama an Israel fan, but again, I don’t think his speech was virulently anti-Israel. Just of poor taste.
I think Bibi is pissed at Obama undermining him – I’m pretty sure he was OK with border lines drawn like the 67 border, but Obama’s words have been taken both ways. An 8 mile distance between Tel Aviv and the West Bank? YNet said that he was opposed to the 67 border- which he is and so are most Israelis - not outright opposed to Obama’s ‘plan’.
Alessan, I’m not Israeli and I’ve obviously not served in the IDF or any part of Israeli security, but wouldn’t the security of the airport be of concern?
:eek:
U.S. taxes go for Israeli military – and Palestinian government via U.N.
50 years of billions of $ from all over the Western world flowing into the support of an intentional occupation, land grab and indiscriminate killing, and Obama’s “1967 borders” is the problem, because there is a divine purpose to the destruction?
Thankfully, we know why people do what they do. The rest is just denial and/or preferential treatment.
I have to applaud Obama for his guts to publicly call it how it is, when his predecessors refused to do so for a very, very long time.
The link I gave was from Yediot Acharonot, Israel’s most widely-read newspaper.
I’ve already bought today’s Yediot and Ma’ariv (second most popular pub), and the response has been pretty even-handed; in fact, the general trend seems to be criticism of Bibi, not of Obama.
There isn’t any poll data in yet. The speech was probably too late last night, and what with the holiday and all, they might not have been able to catch enough people at home.
Some people! I don’t remember the the West asking the Palestinians for permission for the Jews to have their own country. We just came over and in a very arrogant manner said that a Jewish State will exist where Israel now exists. When the UN came to vote about the formation of Israel, every Arab nation voted NO!!! The Arabs are upset because we did not ask!
I think President Obama is right when he senses that facts on the ground are changing and that incentives for peace are moving in place. The Arab Spring has huge implications for Israels security. Rather than dealing with the motivations of a few despots, in the future public sentiment in Egypt, Syria, Jordan and the Maghreb will be of utmost importance to Israel.
That’s what Obama’s talking about when he’s saying that the Status Quo is unsustainable.
Then we have the UN vote this autumn. He’s urging Israel to get out in front of that vote and restart negotiation. If I’m getting this right the US can’t veto that vote, since it’s the General Assembly - not the UNSC. If Palestine is recognized as a member state of the UN, they’ll have a representative in the General Assembly. If Palestines territory is considered the 1967 borders, Israel will be considered occupying a UN member state. And the US can’t do much to stop it.
That’s why Obama is putting the pressure on now, to get out ahead of the earth shifting, and have Israel make a sustainable deal.
It matters in that we weren’t “given” anything. There were more than enough Jews already in Mandatory Palestine in 1947 to constitute a viable state - the fact that we won our war against the Palestinains and later, against the invading Arab armies with no outside help is proof of that.
The sole action the “west” took to failitate the foundation of Israel was in giving the British an excuse to leave. Saying that the “west” founded Israel is like saying that the French founded the United States of America, except for the fact that the Frnch helped the Colonials al lot more than anyone helped Israel.
Now is a definitional moment for what it means to be an Israeli and in a broader sense what it means to be a Jew. There are competing narratives here, which will be resolved.
Sitnam: We have the UN vote coming up september. Egypt recently opened the Gaza border and have upcoming elections, in which the Muslim Brotherhood will be running…