Democratic Underground - Haaretz: Obama, the first U.S. president to tell AIPAC the truth

Obama, the first U.S. president to tell AIPAC the truth
Obama did not go to the AIPAC conference to iron out differences between him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He went there to settle misunderstandings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

By Akiva Eldar

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No American president or presidential candidate has ever told this large Jewish audience of supporters of Israel the truth. Until yesterday, that is. Obama did not go to the AIPAC conference to iron out differences between him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He went there to settle misunderstandings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Obama's explanation regarding his statement last week at the State Department regarding borders, meaning the 1967 borders with mutually agreed-upon swaps, has been acceptable to the Palestinian side for some time. Any diplomat trainee at the Israeli Foreign Ministry would know that not only would Palestinians never agree to have the Israeli army stationed for decades along the Jordan River, but neither would the Americans support Netanyahu's demand that the IDF control Palestinian territory.

It is not coincidental that seasoned Palestinian adviser Saeb Erekat quickly announced yesterday that if Netanyahu were to accept that principle, the path to negotiations would be open and Israel would be able to spare itself and Obama the headache of a vote at the United Nations in September on recognition of a Palestinian state.

Obama fed Netanyahu a heaping portion of Passover bitter herbs garnished with sweet apple haroset. He did not try to make nice. After long deliberations, the die was cast at the White House. Plans would no longer be tailor-made for the government of hour in Israel, as America's perennial Middle East adviser Dennis Ross was known to do.

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Obama's AIPAC speech is the bill the president is submitting to Netanyahu for the dinners that the Israeli prime minister thought he had gotten for free. The time has come to pay for American opposition to the Goldstone commission report on the Israeli incursion in Gaza and the veto of the UN Security Council's condemnation of construction in West Bank settlements. Obama denied Netanyahu the opportunity to exercise a veto on the terms for negotiations with the Palestinians. The U.S. president said that negotiations could not be conducted with Hamas as long as the organization does not recognize Israel's right to exist, refuses to accept existing international obligations and engages in terrorism. The Palestinian party to the negotiations was and remains the Palestine Liberation Organization and not Hamas.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/obama-the-first-u-s-president-to-tell-aipac-the-truth-1.363403

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