This is from Gary Bauer of "American Values"
That was the headline on the Fox News website following President Obama's address today on Middle East policy.
A couple of days ago, I reported to you how mobs of Palestinian extremists threw themselves against the physical barriers marking the borders of Israel, threatening to overwhelm the tiny nation by sending waves of people against its borders. It was terrifying to watch from the comfort of our homes here thousands of miles away. But imagine if you were an Israeli knowing that your country is surrounded by Islamofascists who are just mere miles away.
The president of the United States threw his influence against Israel today by demanding it shrink behind weak and exposed borders. In his speech at the State Department, President Obama said that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians should begin with the 1967 borders -- with some swaps. Prior to the 1967 Six Day war, Jerusalem was a divided city.
This puts tremendous pressure on Israel now to give in to a key Palestinian demand: The division of Jerusalem. The Palestinians are making this demand in order to undermine and deny the Jewish heritage of Jerusalem and any claim to the land of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Jerusalem would remain the undivided capital of the Jewish state. During Jerusalem Day celebrations in 2009, Netanyahu declared, "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people, a city reunified so as never again to be divided." Responding to Obama's speech today, Netanyahu called the 1967 borders "indefensible."
Depending on what these "swaps" mean, you may well see Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and other Iranian allies dancing in the streets of the Holy City. And there is one thing we know for certain: Instead of satisfying the Palestinians, the Iranians and other jihadists, the division of Jerusalem will only stimulate their appetite for the other half of the Holy City.
The people storming Israel's borders last weekend were not calling for a return to the 1967 borders or Israel's 1948 borders. They were commemorating the Nakba or "the day of catastrophe," when the modern state of Israel came into existence in 1948. Their goal is not to coexist with the "catastrophe." They want to end it. They want to completely destroy Israel.
It is audacious for President Obama to make such a radical demand on our ally in the very same speech that he acknowledges the merger of the Palestinian National Authority with the terrorist group Hamas. Obama suggested that "Palestinian leaders will have to provide a credible answer" for this merger. Just imagine our reaction if any nation demanded we negotiate with Al Qaeda!
Obama's statement today seems certain to complicate his relationship with the American Jewish community. Today's Wall Street Journal indicates that key aides were in damage control mode even before his speech. It is also certain to galvanize America's evangelical supporters of Israel.
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