Israel is not the problem in the middle east but breathtakingly President Barack Obama has come to the conclusion that the best path to peace in the region would be to do something that no US President has done since The Six Day War and that is force Israel to negotiate peace from weakened pre June 1967 borders. A position that PM Netanyahu offers in rebuttal is “un defensible.” A position that history clearly shows only leads to instability and aggression – not lasting peace.
The President of the United States wants peace no less than the Prime Minister of Israel and each of their citizens. I also believe that many Palestinians themselves have no quarrel with Israel. Tragically , after five major wars and several “land for peace” efforts by Israel none have resulted in the simple recognition by The Palestinian Authority or most of their Arab neighbors in the acknowledgement of Israel’s right to exist or the sovereignty of her borders. There cannot be a lasting peace in the region without both.
The conflict is as Mr. Netanyahu said ,” not about the establishment of a Palestinian state but the existence of a Jewish state.” Israel’s borders have been breached hundreds of thousands of times by rockets, artillery and by terrorists over many years of so called peace. Americans could never be expected to live under these conditions . Why should generations of Jews in Israel be forced to live this way?
To his credit the President has made numerous overtures to the Muslim world and many of Israel’s enemies since 2009 in the pursuit of peace. Unfortunately, his actions been answered with rebuke and have not moved along the effort to build bonds between the principals. The core of the opposition’s argument is there simply is no room for a Jewish state in the region .
The president’s address not only impacted the Israel/Palestine discussion but also the growing nuclear threat with a much more dangerous Iran. It is unhealthy for Israel to constantly be backed into inferior positions that have a cumulative negative impact on her future security in the pursuit of “peace.”
What would a “pro peace” US President do to promote a lasting resolution ? He would bluntly state Israel’s right to exist is undisputed . That the refugee “problem” must be settled outside the borders of Israel. He would say all borders must be secure and hold both sides accountable for their actions . Finally , he would convince the Palestinian Authority that the only way for them to independently exist in peace is to understand that Jerusalem is the un dividable capital of Israel .
Lasting peace will be difficult to achieve , however , such a basic understanding would be the proper groundwork for doing so and we all know it.
I am a long time listener and this is my first time contacting any of you guys.
I think that the road to peace is for Israel to come from a standing of strength. No country on the planet allows another country or countries to shoot rockets onto its soil, said rockets killing its citizens. Why is it okay for the so called Palestinians to shoot rockets into Israel, but it is not okay for Israel to defend herself by shooting back or wiping out the terrorists? I think that the time for Israel to talk (read plead) for Peace from these people has ended. Additionally, no one is doing anything to stop Iran from its continuing work on nuclear weapons.
Have you noticed the recent rise in anti-semitism here and in Europe? I have but it is not being covered by the usual mainstream media outlets. A blind eye was turned when many of the Occupy crowd were shouting anti-semitic slurs and talking about kill the Wall Street Jews and white people and so forth. Someone should study this and cover it. It seems we are on the way to another holocaust and this time it will be in the USA.
Unfortunately, as you say, with Israel’s neighbors not even willing to acknowledge the existence of Israel and her right to exist, there can’t be peace.