--- On Mon, 6/15/09,
--- On Mon, 6/15/09, afsi
PRESS RELEASE: Netanyahu Caves In
New York City
June 15, 2009
In the first major policy speech of his administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caved to Barack Obama’s key demand that the Palestinian Arabs be given a state in the heart of Israel’s historic homeland.
“The only winner from this speech was Barack Obama. It’s Obama: 1 Jews: 0,” said Herbert Zweibon. “Obama couldn’t care less about a few settlements here or there. He wanted Netanyahu to accept the principle of a two-state solution. Netanyahu collapsed in the face of American pressure. He allowed himself to be outmaneuvered.”
Netanyahu, who began reasonably enough, systematically laying out the case for why there should not be a Palestinian state – including the point that Arab hatred of Israel preceded Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria –then reversed course at the end and endorsed a two-state solution.
“The White House calls Netanyahu’s speech an ‘important step forward,’” said Herbert Zweibon, Chairman of Americans for A Safe Israel. “In fact, it’s a dramatic step backwards as Netanyahu edges the Jewish People toward the cliff.”
In an attempt to mollify Israelis, who have the seen the painful results of Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, in which thousands of their fellow citizens were dragged from their homes only to be replaced by a Hamas-run terror enclave, Netanyahu insisted in his speech that a Palestinian State be demilitarized.
Setting aside the fact that there are thousands of assault rifles already in the hands of Fatah, many Israeli-approved, it is simply not possible to prevent a Palestinian entity, once it has been granted sovereignty, from emerging as a military threat, AFSI notes.
“Every time Israel evacuates a piece of territory it turns into a launching pad,” Zweibon said. “During the Lebanon War alone, some half a million Israelis were displaced by missiles. On the outskirts of Gaza, Israelis fear for their lives. Those areas were supposed to be demilitarized and subject to international monitoring, too. What makes Netanyahu think this time will be any different?”
The Arab reaction to Netanyahu’s speech was noteworthy, Zweibon says. It was one of uniform hostility, despite Netanyahu’s sudden willingness to accept a two-state solution. A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Netanyahu’s speech “torpedoes all peace initiatives in the region” simply because Netanyahu asked Arabs to recognize Israel’s Jewish character.
“What this proves, as if it needed to be proved yet again, is that what the Arabs find distasteful about the Jewish State is that it exists at all,” Zweibon said.
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