CNS News posted a story today about the President's speech calling for a return to the 1967 borders of Israel. The article points out:
"When then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to withdraw from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005 - uprooting 9,000 Israelis living there in the process - he did so largely on the basis of assurances contained in a letter sent by President George W. Bush the previous year.
"In the letter, Bush referred to the future boundaries of Israel arising from "final status" negotiations leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
""In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949," Bush wrote, adding that "all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state solution have reached the same conclusion."
""It is realistic to expect that any final status agreement will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect these realities," he continued.
"The crucial Bush letter was endorsed by large majorities of both Houses of Congress in June 2004."
Obviously President Obama was either unaware of that letter or chose to ignore it.
The article at CNS News quotes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's reply:
"In his response to Obama's speech, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - who is due to meet with Obama at the White House on Friday - referred to Bush's 2004 assurances.
""Israel appreciates President Obama's commitment to peace. Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state," his office said in a statement.
""That is why Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress," it said.
""Among other things, those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines.""
The speech made by President Obama yesterday ignored the 2004 letter and Congressional action. If the suggestions for peace made by President Obama were followed, Israel would not exist within a year.
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