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Netanyahu Defies Obama with Harsh Conditions for Palestinian 'Entity'
Prime minister insists on recognition of Israel • Remarks follow growing US pressure for peace
Binyamin Netanyahu threw down the gauntlet to the US last night, grudgingly agreeing to a limited Palestinian state that would be demilitarized and not in control of its airspace or borders.
American left-wing activists protest in front of Israeli police against the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank outside the Bar Ilan university in Kiryat Uno, near the coastal city of Tel Aviv. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will for the first time endorse the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state in a keynote address, a senior aide said on Sunday.
(AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand)
The hawkish Prime Minister insisted that Israel would never give up a united
Jerusalem as its capital, and said that established Jewish settlements in
the West Bank would continue to expand - despite explicit objections from
Washington.
In a keynote speech that referred to a Palestinian "entity" far more frequently than an actual state, Mr Netanyahu tried to advance elements of his economic peace plan - whereby the Palestinians would get increased investment but only limited sovereignty - while still conceding to US insistence on the creation of an independent Palestinian country.
The right-wing Israeli leader said the moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank must agree to recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, as well as fight the Islamic hardliners Hamas, who now control Gaza, in return for the resumption of peace talks.
"The key condition is that the Palestinians recognize in a clear and public manner that Israel is the state of the Jewish people," he told dignitaries in an auditorium at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv. "If we have the guarantees on demilitarization, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as a state of the Jewish people, then we arrive at a solution based on a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel," Mr Netanyahu said.
"Each will have its flag, each will have its anthem. The Palestinian territory will be without arms, will not control airspace, will not be able to have arms enter."
He said that "effective security safeguards" would have to be in place, without specifying what they might be. Israeli military officers have long argued that without an Israeli military presence, the Fatah-controlled West Bank would quickly fall to the Iranian-backed Hamas, which took control of Gaza two years ago amid fierce fighting.
Mr Netanyahu said that Hamas rocket-fire from Gaza, attacking Israeli cities in the south, would quickly reach Tel Aviv and its airport if the Islamist hardliners came to control the West Bank. "Many a worthy person has told us that withdrawal is the key to peace between us and the Palestinians. But the fact is that every withdrawal has been accompanied by rockets and suicide attacks." He said that the Palestinians had to drop the right of return for hundreds of thousands of refugees to their homes inside Israel.
Mr Netanyahu has been forced to tread a fine line between placating his largely nationalist-religious coalition while not flying in the face of Israel's main ally, the US - which wants a total halt to all settlement growth and recognition of an independent Palestinian state. He said last night that he would not agree to US demands for a total freeze on the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
"I do not wish to build new settlements or to confiscate lands to that end, but we have to allow the residents of the settlements to live normal lives," he said.
The much anticipated speech, in part a response to President Obama's address to the Muslim world in Cairo two weeks ago, was condemned by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. "This speech torpedoes all peace initiatives in the region," said Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Palestinian official, said that Mr Netanyahu "spoke of a Palestinian state while emptying it of any substance by excluding a stop to settlements".
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91 Comments so far
Show AllDoes anyone else get the feeling that we're watching a puppet show?
q
I get that feeling every time I come here to read articles and user comments.
1. How dare he offer a palestinian state without weapons! We peace loving lefties demand that palestinians keep their right to kill Jews and eliminate Israel.
2. How dare he make territorial claims. This process can only be solved by making the Jews suffer and leave. They cannot have Jerusalem. They cannot have any home in the whole Arab world. Oh, and Jews never lived in Israel till the 20th century, right? Oh, and Jews never lived in any other Arab nation - they were never butchered or kicked out, right?
3. This would be so much easier if we could just kill all the Jews or forcefully move them. Then we could have peace. There's no conflict at all without Jews or Israel, right?
I guess all you want, "middle road," is for the Jews to have the right to kill Arabs.
Nicely stated. The terrorist state of Israel holds all the cards. Apparently the Palestinians cannot defend themselves from continued murder, air strikes targeting non combatants, infrastructure manipulation (i.e., when I was on the West Bank last, the benevolent government of Israel turned the water on for a couple of hours once a week), and expansionism.
Gaza
same as the Warsaw ghetto
Nazis are the same
in any generation
Yawn.
Pretty much.
Not quite. Palestine REALLY IS 2 concentration camps surrounded by a savage army that behaves like nazi troops and is led by hitler-like leaders bent on expansion. The only difference is that world media cannot report the truth because it is complicit or compromised.
Go and see this clip, then come back here share your opinions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVBIzu4YvnE
Um, I don't know what you're disagreeing with me about, but ok.
And from Al Jazeera's coverage of political division in the Palestinian territories, the video from Ramallah looks like a normal city, not a concentration camp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wceKOtlFPhU
What the hell is he so scared of?
Probably the naked spectre of Margaret Thatcher he sleeps next to every night.
The pig basically nixed Palestinian statehood in the speech. "they'll have their own anthems". wow, now THERE'S the hallmark of sovereignty.
At least Bibi tipped his hand for the last few doubters out there. He knows no Palestinian will accept an Israeli administered ghetto--it's what they have now--and so sentient beings know that this is a campaign to exterminate the Palestinian presence in the expanded version of Israel.
Israel I think has almost sealed its fate.
that the very ABNORMAL "security" of the Israelis will be threatened.
ironic that he and presumably many israelis consider as "normal life" a system which was built on ABNORMALLY taking land away from Palestinians and ABNORMALLY imposing a police state pretending to be a "democracy".
True.
Israel is nothing more than an immoral and illegal invasion by a group of people, and I admire those who stand up to their genocidal invaders.
And to think that these guys actually have TV commercials inviting tourists to their country - by touting their "hospitality"! (Has anyone else seen these commercials?)
Does Netanyahu want two equal and independent states that coexist in peace? I doubt it. The people of Palestine and Israel deserve better. Netanyahu insists on permenant settlements, piece meal expansion. controll of all of Jerusalem and inferior status for Arabs living in Israel proper. This does not add up to a doable peace.
No offense, but by stripping any meaningful sovereignty from a Palestinian state in his speech, there's little left to infer other than that the Israeli right wants teh Arabs and Palestinians in the area erased. You can't have a state where another state controls the movement in and out of the territory and the ability of the other state to defend itself. This doesn't even rise to the level of joke.
"I do not wish to build new settlements or to confiscate lands to that end, but we have to allow the residents of the settlements to live normal lives," Netanyahu said
Yet, Palestinians are not given permits to build homes in their own territory and live "normal lives"
By taking away Palestinian land and crops, ability to trade, water resources and building walls and settler only highways around Palestinian towns, Israel is effectively creating Palestinian concentration camps.
Another way of putting it is that Israel has established an apartheid system against the Palestinians.
The U.S. pulled out of investing with South Africa due to its apartheid system - and it worked. We should do the same with Israel. Israel gets more U.S. aid than any other nation. Time to end that gravy train.
nuttyyahoo has gone off the rails. There's no such thing as a state that cannot control its own airspace or borders, let alone one that agrees to be totally demilitarized. Not even after launching two world wars was Germany disarmed totally.
Cut them off from the tit of uncle sam...
Time for the US to cut the purse strings to Israel. No more military aid, loans or any other monies to the government of Israel until they start obeying international law and UN resolutions.
Predictably, the MSM has already begun representing this sham as a major concession by Israel. Netanyaya says they can start talking "peace" immediately with no preconditions - except the unworkable ones that he has placed on the Palestinians. If I hear it characterized as a "bold initiative" or other such bullshit by the Obama administration, then I know we're in for four years of bloody hell.
It's an opening gambit, but starting this far from a middle ground certainly indicates that Netanyahu's willingness to find a just solution is probably non-existent.
like that was a surprise or something.
Not surprising at all, but certainly disappointing.
you must have had some respect left for Zionism to state that
there's nothing left to be disappointed about
it was never there in the first place
You really want to go after me since last week when you tried to tell me I was a zionist. Give it up...this is a discussion board about issues, not your petty personal vendettas.
Yes, there is plenty to be disappointed about. In your zeal you seem to think you now get to tell other people how to feel. Time to seriously get over yourself.
Actually, no, never my intention.
But now with your heated response
Methinks thou dost protest too much.
Expecting to get any resistance from a weak leader like Obama is like hoping to win the lottery 3 times in a row. Israel will continue to butcher the innocent civilians whose land they'll continue to steal and Obama will continue to roll over and play dead.
This supposed growing US pressure for peace is all cheap theater anyway, only 2-digit IQ people and Democratic Underground members are buying.
He offered them chains, demanded that they publicly castrate themselves, make public their acquiescence to slavery, openly humiliate themselves in their acceptance of zero sovereignty, demanded that they betray those that have fought for them, and required that they accept any measure to satisfy any paranoia that Israel may conceive of in the future...
And he calls that acceptance of a two state solution? He calls that freedom? Sovereignty?
He calls that peace?
I call it an insult, and (I hope) would fight him and his ilk till I had no breath left in me.
Netanyahu can stick it up his Benjamin. He is an insult to the human race. His nation is a racist theocratic apartheid state, not a democracy. Americans had better understand this. How many Americans understand that it is a flat lie to call Israel a democracy? Israel will NEVER allow a non-Jewish majority. Equal rights within a single state solution, or equal sovereignty in a two state solution, will NEVER be allowed by the Israeli right wing.
We need to be clear. What makes a person Jewish? Is it DNA? Is it religion? They should make up their mind, I think. This very dangerous ambiguity has allowed (the government of) Israel the freedom to commit any atrocity it wishes, while being hailed as 'the only democracy in the Middle East'. The excesses allowed Israel because of their status as victims of holocaust is wearing severely thin. If Israel is a state based upon race, assuming being Jewish is a matter of DNA, it will NEVER be a democracy. As long as Israel is a state based upon a religious belief, assuming Judaism is a religion, it will NEVER be a democracy.
The Palestinians in Gaza must, "fight Hamas," that pre-condition is insane. Sure, Hamas and whoever Israel ain't killed yet killing each other off while Zionist Psychopaths Picnic and cheer....
However, if NUTanu wants Hamas fought, will he provide the weapons? Missiles? Artillery? Maybe there is room for movement here.
Remember the USS Liberty!!!!!
But I could be wrong !
AIPAC likes to control when memory starts and stops,
so expect to be wrong.
USS Liberty? Never happened. You're anti-Semitic. It was an accident. Never happened. You're anti-Semitic. It was an accident. Never happened. You're anti-Semitic. It was an accident. Never happened. You're anti-Semitic. It was an accident.
"Palestinians would get increased investment"
Palestinians don't need investment. All they need is to adopt the view that they don't need investment. People can build things without investment. It's been going on for a long time in a lot of places. Mammon not needed. Learn the lesson.
Pretty tough to do when all your arable land and water is taken and your borders sealed off.
Mammon is not needed, but food and water are.
rtdury-are you joking? The ZioDeath forces just DESTROYED half the farmland, irrigation, homes, wells, food warehouses, generators, waste-treatment facilities, water plants the Gazans HAD built.
The Israelis need to quit murdering and bombing the Palestinians.
Learn the Lesson.
Oh, Mammon not needed you said, for effing sure! I WISH Israel would quit leeching & sucking off my country. (And quit murdering Americans.)
PNAC/Israel...oy ve, "We need a new pearl harbor." 2yrs later 9-11. They got it!
And 5 Mossad agents are caught filming it! Therefore, logically, Israel did 9-11. Or they just happened to wish for it, get it, and be set up ahead of time to recieve...the gift?
Wanna buy the Brooklyn Bridge? Best wishes, joe
What a show for Creator to watch upon the earth. Been happening all through time on large & small scales in all lands, & between all peoples at many levels.
It's all very strange. This old getting older Indian geezer just pays the bills, obeys the laws, & render unto Caesar what is Caesar's as each day is just another day closer to my journey being completed through this world, whatever it is?
I try to be of no harm to any person as human beings are already way more than good enough at harming one another upon this planet as things already are upon the earth. Try to help those I can help in the ways I am able.
Life is good. What an experience! It's always best to forgive.
Life IS good. Sitting in the doorway, playing with the children, sleeping in the sun. Life is always a journey, never a destination. Yes, to forgive is best as anger is such a heavy burden. Then both we and The Creator can laugh at the folly of man. It really is a terrific show!
For many palestinians, the journey is nothing. The only life is the future death of Israel. They do not live, they boil and seethe. They do not want peace, they abhor peace. Only victory, complete victory, is acceptable. And so they lose and will lose as long as they keep the same twisted perspective.
For many Israelis, the journey is nothing. The only life is the future death of palistine. They do not live, they boil and seethe. They do not want peace, they abhor peace. Only victory, complete victory, is acceptable. And so they lose and will lose as long as they keep the same twisted perspective.
touche'
The future death of palistine? Honey, palistine never existed. It never will exist until the "refugees" accept that they can't have it all at the expense of the Jews.
Touche? Bullshit.
You do realise that all I did in my post was switch two words of what you said, don't you?
I'm not your honey either. That's sexual harrasment that is. (grin)
No, Zionists don't actually read others' posts.
They skim it for key words, then cut and paste AIPAC/IDF talking points.
Yeah, honey, I realized you just switched some words. I pointed out that you were wrong to do so. And by the way, honey is an endearing term I use for people getting things hilariously wrong. I find it disturbing that you found it sexual.
Only two words, dear. Both of them nouns. I found it disturbing that what you wrote was very similar to some things that old anti-semites used to say about all Jews. Responding to hate and murder with more hate and murder isn't going to solve any problem that we have in the world, let alone in the mideast. Israel hasn't been willing to make peace with their neighbours since the Carter Administration, and even then they had to be forced into it.
Were it not for the support of the yanks, Israel wouldn't have a hope of surviving another war with its neighbours. So, why do they (Israel's gov't) think that the usa will always be there for them in the future? If the economic crisis is as bad as some think, or if some other thing distracts the yanks from the Mideast, then the lack of a desire for peaceful coexistance will doom the Israelis. If it's not this crisis, who's to say that the usa will not find a reason to support Jordan and Syria in a war against Israel. Who's to say that the usa might not get involved in a war where the sacrifice of Israel means the survival of the usa? If it comes to a choice between the two countries, the usa will choose to save itself, no matter what the holy babble says.
"But the fact is that every withdrawal has been accompanied by rockets and suicide attacks."
When has there ever been a withdrawal of Israeli military presence, let alone UNLAWFUL civilian settlements, from Palestian land since Israel's expansion by force in 1967? Peace for these two nations will only be realized when the terms are negotiated fairly on both sides, not unilaterally. Once a viable concession is made by the Israelis, then perhaps peace can be achieved.
Boo-hoo-hoo... Sob... The Palestinians are resisting our oppression and genocide...
Israel is not for peace. No interest in it whatsoever.
"Once a viable concession is made by the Israelis, then perhaps peace can be achieved."
The sad thing is that the Israeli people apparently are not interested in peace - they are interested in the status quo and more land. They voted for the hawk Netanyau and over half of them support invading Iran.
Peace...right. Let them reap what they sow, without U.S. aid!
"The hawkish Prime Minister insisted that Israel would never give up a united Jerusalem as its capital, and said that established Jewish settlements in the West Bank would continue to expand - despite explicit objections from Washington."
This is the way it has always been with Israeli terms - they give with one hand and take away with the other, then cry that the Palestinians and Arabs and everyone else is against them because they don't see the righteousness of the Israeli offer.
Israel is not only painting itself into a corner, it is painting the rest of the world into a corner. I hope Obama has the balls to stand up to Netanyahu and his thugs.
No U.S. money or arms to Israel until the settlements are stopped!
Yeah, how dare those Jews negotiate. Don't they know that they're worthless and deserve nothing? That's what Mohammed said, and in that neck of the woods, whatever he says goes.
Did you catch Netanyahu, referring to a future Palestinian State as a "TERRITORY"? Talking out the side of his mouth, then the truth comes out in a word.
Get the settlers out!
67' borders no if, ands or butts!