Barack Obamas speech on the Middle East
1967 and all that
BARACK OBAMA has spelled out his prescription for the partition of Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines, he says, with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states.
That is not a departure from long-established American policy. The 1967 lines dividing Israel from the West Bank and from Gazaonce spurned by Israels Abba Eban as Auschwitz bordershave always implicitly been Washingtons point of departure for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But now, for the first time, the four digits have become formal American policy. Middle East cognoscenti were speculating furiously ahead of the presidents speech at the State Department on Thursday over whether he would utter them or fudge.
Part of the speculation focused on Mr Obamas guest for lunch at the White House on Friday: Binyamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister. He has never accepted the principle that the Palestinian state should get 100% of the land taken by Israel in 1967. The Israeli leader issued a tart response to the presidents speech before emplaning for Washington on Thursday night.
Beyond the mention of 1967 and other detailed specifics earnestly being parsed by the experts, Mr Obamas speech was striking in that it deliberately embraced and articulated the key contentions advanced by the Israeli peace camp, now in opposition to the Netanyahu government. The status quo is unsustainable The fact is, a growing number of Palestinians live west of the Jordan River, the president said, sounding the demographic warning that Israeli moderates frequently cite as compelling grounds to end the occupation. The dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation.
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