Netanyahu to Congress: Ready to make painful compromises, but Jerusalem will not be divided

The prime minister was welcomed to the U.S. Congress by a long standing ovation, after which he praised the U.S. for their strong ties and shared values with Israel.

By Haaretz Service

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his speech at the United States Congress on Tuesday by reiterating Israel's strong ties with the U.S., saying "Israel has no better friend than the U.S. and the U.S. has no better friend than Israel."

The prime minister's speech was briefly disrupted by a heckler, who was quickly escorted out by security. Netanyahu said about the heckler, "I appreciate that protesting is allowed" adding "this is the real democracy."

Netanyahu rejected those that call Israel a "foreign occupier", saying that no one could deny the "4,000 year old bond between the Jewish people and the Jewish land."

"Why has peace eluded us?" the prime minister posed as he began to discuss the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. "Because so far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state if it meant accepting a Jewish state alongside it."

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-congress-ready-to-make-painful-compromises-but-jerusalem-will-not-be-divided-1.363802

Spokesman for Palestinian President Abbas said that the things stated in Prime minister Netanyahu's speech 'will not lead to peace.'
By Reuters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vision for ending conflict with Palestinians put "more obstacles" in front of the Middle East peace process, the spokesman for the Palestinian president said.

"What came in Netanyahu's speech will not lead to peace," Nabil Abu Rdainah, the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters following Netanyahu's address to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinians-netanyahu-speech-to-u-s-congress-is-obstacle-to-peace-1.363859

Israel is willing to give up land for peace just not any land that is currently considered Israel, including settlements....WTF!

really don't look out for the people who put them there....Even Harry Reid sounded like a member of the likud party last night....

snip* Meanwhile, both political parties in Congress are in a frantic competition to see which one can lavish Netanyahu with more obsequious praise; this statement sent out in the name of Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey is typical of the entries. For his part, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ran to AIPAC to undercut (and rebuke) his own President and the leader of his own party on Israel, something that -- as Andrew Sullivan correctly observed -- would be inconceivable on any foreign policy issue other than Israel.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/05/24/israel/index.html

The warm bipartisan embrace for Netanyahu — more than two dozen ovations from elected U.S. officials, Republican and Democrat alike — left no doubt that despite the Israeli leader’s at-times abrasive relationship with the Obama White House, he enjoys near blanket support in Congress.



http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/996242--israel-ready-for-painful-compromises-netanyahu-tells-congress?bn=1

What a disgusting sight it was!....Democrats and Republicans leaping up and down to cheer Bibi on as he told them what he wanted....Jerusalem....Settlements....Palestinian land opposite Letanya...IDF on the Jordon...Demiitarisation etc etc.

What did he offer the Palestinians?......Painful concessions!



I hope every world leader was watching this performance.......The congress of the world's only super-power kowtowing to a war-monger!

Just as Israel's detractors hate Israel and not because of Nutty.

It's really that simple.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/rightist-mks-slam-netanyahu-s-painful-compromises-for-peace-1.363980

Hawkish and nationalist Knesset members have criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, which outlined his vision of a future peace deal with the Palestinians, with lawmakers from Netanyahu's own Likud party slamming Netanyahu's proposed concessions.

In his speech, Netanyahu said that while Israel would be "generous" with the size of a Palestinian state, there would be no Israeli return to the borders which existed in June, 1967, before Israel captured the West Bank, and Jerusalem would not be divided.

(aka hopeless schmuck) using up air on CBS MSM, talking about his idiotic understanding of the Arab Spring. His regret for the blessed Mubarak is quite telling.

Ben Stein: "Arab Spring" is a fraud

CBS News) What are we to make of the changes sweeping the Arab World? Contributor Ben Stein knows what HE thinks:

Now, I am going to tell you the truth about the so-called "Arab Spring," and about the Middle East generally right now.


First, the "Arab Spring" as a force for democracy, human rights and peace in Egypt seems to me to be a fraud.


The dictator and his entourage who were kicked out in Egypt were pro-West, a bit restrained on Israel, open to free enterprise, and resistant to Iranian-sponsored terror.


Egypt is now rapidly becoming anti-Israel, pro-Iran, pro the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group Hamas, and very far from being pro-human rights. They are arresting businessmen right and left in Egypt just for the crime of being successful. They have arrested Mubarak's sons, and have said they plan to try Mubarak.


The most potent of the political forces in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, hates the United States, loathes Israel, condemns the killing of bin Laden (whom they praised as a martyr), and have been wedded to terror for their entire existence.


Oh, P.S, they are closely connected with Adolph Hitler.


They will probably take over Egypt completely sooner or later.


As the terrorist government of Syria cracks down on its own people, the U.N. Security Council does exactly nothing about it.


Has anyone noticed that the common denominator of all the successful Arab street movements is that they are sympathetic to Iran? When the dust settles, Iran is going to own the Middle East - except for maybe Saudi Arabia, if we have the guts to help them (which I very much doubt).


We are going to lose our pals in Bahrain - not nice guys, but pals of the U.S.A. anyway - and we are going to lose our pals in Yemen, and it will possibly have an actual al Qaeda government.


There is a gigantic regional coup by Iran taking place. We are doing very little, if anything, to stop it.


We are going to regret helping the Egyptians kick out Mubarak as much as we regret helping Khomeini force out the Shah.


You can call it "Arab Spring" if you want. But with Iran now the regional superpower, it is a lot more like an extremely bleak Mideast winter.

You heard it here first

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/15/sunday/main20063017.shtml

WTF has Israel ever done for us?

Being our strategic ally on issues that are primarily caused by Israel's actions isn't really "help"

That has been beneficial to us.

snip* MARK PERRY: Well, General Petraeus is exactly right. After I published my piece, I received a call from a senior officer in the Pentagon, who said General Petraeus has never given the request that you mentioned to the White House, but he did give it to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I went back into my piece and changed it, despite the fact that three senior officers in CENTCOM had said it was true. I’m not arguing with General Petraeus. He’s made the claim. He’s not a man who lies. I made the correction. He’s absolutely right.


ANJALI KAMAT: And Mark, I have a question in terms of the broader picture of what’s going on right now. Is this a big rift in US policy toward Israel? You talk about the Petraeus briefing. There’s been the flap created with Vice President Biden’s visit, strong words from Secretary of State Clinton. There seems to be a slight toning down of the rhetoric right now. What’s happening right now? Is this just rhetoric, or is there going to be a real change?


MARK PERRY: Well, you’re absolutely right. There has been a toning down in rhetoric. However, watching the Secretary of State on Sunday, in particular, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so angry about something. And, you know, this is more than a hiccup. Is it a crisis? No, it’s not a crisis. But the United States has made it very clear to the Israeli government what needs to be done here, that this building project in East Jerusalem needs to stop, that there have to be confidence-building measures, and that the Israelis have to go to the peace table in good faith. And I think that’s the expectation. Those requirements have not changed. And we’re waiting for Israel’s answer. This is not a crisis. We’re not going to end our relationship with Israel. But this is certainly more than a hiccup in our relationship. This is an important break.


AMY GOODMAN: And this issue, going back to General Petraeus talking about the US relationship with Israel actually jeopardizing US lives, take that a little further.


MARK PERRY: Well, Israel is not our only ally in the region. We have very close and strong ties with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, with all of these Arab countries. And we have troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. And if you go on the ground in these countries and you talk to the people in Iraq and Afghanistan, they’re concerned about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I mean, it’s really—it’s hard for us to believe, but if you spend any time in the region—I spent twenty years there—this is number one on everyone’s agenda. Not the war on terror, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


So it’s true. If we can solve this problem, if we can push both sides to the table, if we can come up with some kind of a solution, this helps us immensely on the war on terror. If it doesn’t, it’s another excuse for the terrorists, the Jacobins, the hardliners, the let’s-burn-it-down-and-start-over crowd to really go up against us. This is an arrow in their quiver, and we should be able to take it away.


http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/17/report_petraeus_warns_joint_chiefs_of

The same DemocracyNow that hosts guests like Norman Finkelstein, who says Hezbollah has the right to deliberately target and attack Israeli civilians?

Come on.

report was never complied? Mark Perry and Foreign Policy are fraud's too?


You could be sued for making a person laugh so much ya know.




As far as Norman Finkelstein, you are free to disagree with Raul Hilberg about Norman, I doubt they'd
be surprised.

Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is an insider on US-Israel relations, Mideast politics and overseas investments in Israel’s high tech. He is the co-author of the January 2005 groundbreaking study, “Palestinian Demography – The 1.5 Million Gap” (Misrepresentations Exposed). He is a consultant to members of the Israeli Cabinet and Knesset, and regularly briefs US legislators and their staff.

Frequently interviewed on Israel’s TV and radio, Yoram Ettinger’s OpEds have been published in Israel and the US. He was a speaker at AIPAC Annual Conference, and has been interviewed on US radio talk shows and TV.

Yoram Ettinger, did his graduate studies at UCLA and undergraduate at UTEP and served as Minister for Congressional Affairs at Israel’s Embassy in Washington (with a rank of an Ambassador), Israel’s Consul General in Houston and Director of Israel’s Government Press Office. He is the editor of “Straight from the Jerusalem Cloakroom and Boardroom” newsletters on issues of national security and overseas investments in Israel’s high-tech. Ettinger's Powerpoint Presentations and Full Page Ads may be examined at www.acpr.org.il/hatikvah.

http://www.acpr.org.il/authors/ettinger-y.htm

After all, anyone like Norm who thinks Hezbollah has a right to target and attack Israeli civilians MUST be a more credible source than someone supporting a liberal democracy like Israel...

:eyes:

his bio and the information about the CENTCOM briefing.