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Originally Posted by whell
I won't pretend to understand all of the nuances to the on-going hostilities in the Middle East. It's against that backdrop that I'll say that Obama's speech on Thursday leaves me a bit mystified. Why would Isreal agree to the stating point for negotiations with it's neighbors must be a reshaping of it's current borders when that's not what the hostilities are really about? Why should Isreal concede anything until the central issue - a recognition of Isreal's right to exist- is addressed?
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Not that I'm particularly sympathetic with either party, but the Palestinian's not recognizing Israel's right to exist is also their going-in position. They don't want to concede on this any more than the Israelis want to concede on anything else prior to negotiations. Either side demanding preconditions is not a good thing.
FWIW, 1967 borders (with land swaps) has been our position for decades and was the basis for the agreement under Clinton that almost got done.
This dust-up yesterday was less than meets the eye. It was about Netanyahu standing tall for his Likkud base constituency and Obama trying to throw a bone to Abbas in an effort to undermine the upcoming UN vote on Palestinian statehood in September.