No Threat To Israel-Pedro Baez

No Threat to Israel
Pedro Baez

On Thursday, President Obama laid out the US approach to a very long outstanding problem:

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

In his speech, the President outlined his approach for reform towards ending this crisis that has been around since the state of Israel was established in 1948 and has engulfed every president from Harry Truman to President Barack Obama.

The President feels that a two state solution is the key towards finally putting this crisis behind us and bringing peace, tranquility, and prosperity to this troubled region of the world.

In part this is what the President said:

‘So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the basis of those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel. The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.”

It is these words that have caused denunciation “The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines.”

You would have thought the President said that the US was abandoning Israel.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, of the Simon Wiesenthal Museum said that Israel is at a very critical stage. This would create a catastrophe. Former New York Mayor Ed Koch said that he agrees with Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, that Israel has been put under the bus.

And so on and so on.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

The President isn’t saying to accept Hamas as is, to make friends with people who are determined to annihilate you. The President is saying that all parties must agree to reforms, end violence towards one another, and for Hamas, Jihad, the Muslim Brotherhood, and rogue states like Iran, Yemen, Syria, and Libya to accept Israel’s right to exist.

What’s so threatening and catastrophic about that?

The President’s position is similar to the position that the J Street organization has been proposing for some time.

A two state solution allowing for secure borders and for all parties to live in peace. The Golan Heights’ area has nothing to do with this conflict. That is Syria’s call. So far Bashir Assad (Syrian President) hasn’t indicated a willingness to come to Jerusalem to begin negotiations.

His father the late Hafez Assad in his last days, had expressed the possibility of just that. Perhaps the thought of being assassinated by terrorists scared the you know what out of him.

The Saudi’s privately have said that they prefer a strong Israel to the current status quo. They are envious of the strides Israel has made in stem cell research, and in business.

They would like to be able to take their tankers to Haifa, however until there is peace, they will continue to do business with Israel through third party contacts like the Netherlands (Holland).