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New English Review What Lies Behind Obama's Face-Off With Netanyahu in Washington? A Round Table discussion with Jonathan Schanzer by Jerry Gordon and Mike Bates (June 2011) http://www.newenglishreview.org/files/100/Image/obama_netanyahu_430_small_3. jpgLate May witnessed a conflict between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu on the occasion of the Annual Washington Policy Conference of the pro-Israeli lobby group, AIPAC, and an invitation by the new House GOP leadership to have Netanyahu speak before a joint session of Congress. Not to be upstaged, Obama delivered a much heralded major policy address on the Middle East roiling from internal the so-called Arab Spring conflicts in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain on the day before Netanyahu's arrival in Washington. The set the stage for what turned out to be a set-to in the Oval Office played out before the international media. The sparkplug was the 1200 words Obama added to his Middle East policy speech about establishing a Palestinian state based on the pre - 1967 June War borders, the 1949 Armistice lines between the embryonic Jewish state, Israel and several invading Arab states. Those remarks were delivered without prior consultation with PM Netanyahu leaving less than three hours upon his arrival to confer with aides and Obama officials. The public exchange between the two leaders in the Oval Office was decidedly arctic, with Netanyahu lecturing Obama on the precedents for negotiating ground rules for a possible peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). A PA that had trumpeted a recent unity agreement with Hamas, a US designated foreign terrorist organization, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. Obama hastily organized a speech on Sunday, May 22nd at the AIPAC conference at the Washington Convention center proclaiming American solidarity with its ally Israel, but, also reiterating the pre 1967 basis for borders between Israel and a yet to be established Palestinian state. The Obama Administration had this past January given special status to the PA interest section in Washington, just below that of an embassy that enabled it to fly its flag. Moreover, the PA had started an intensive lobbying campaign to garner the necessary two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly this September sanctioning a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence with Jerusalem its capitol thereby avoiding negotiating with Israel. The US may elect to exercise its veto power to prevent the Security Council from approving such status. In acclaimed speeches before the AIPAC conference audience of 10,000 on Monday May 23rd and in an address before a joint session of Congress, PM Netanyahu laid out the case for peace based on security and the history of commitments under UNSC Resolution 242 of November 1967 and a letter from former President Bush in 2004 recognizing that in any negotiated settlement, Israel would be left with secure and defensible borders, a unified Jerusalem as its capitol and adjustments to accommodate upwards of 400,000 Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria. President Obama didn't stay around for further discussions instead he took off for deliberations with the G-8 in Europe. Pundits are suggesting that Obama's diplomatic faux pas with Netanyahu could give rise to Israel as a possible wedge issue in the 2012 Presidential elections in the US. But there were other concerns. Conspicuous by its absence in Obama's Middle East policy speech was any reference to the special role of Saudi Arabia and a minimal recognition of the threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran to Israel and the West. That threat was evident in Iran's role organizing proxies in Lebanon and Syria to crash the border with Israel on al Nakba Day, May 15th. Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons, despite the alleged setbacks caused by the Stuxnet Malworm which might have slowed down the uranium enrichment process. Moreover, Iran's role in 9/11 was noted in a filing by the 9/11 families in the federal Southern District Court in Manhattan made on the same day as Obama's Middle East policy speech. The filing confirmed the roles of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and the terrorist mastermind of Hezbollah, the late Imad Maghniyah, assassinated in Damascus in 2008. Against this background "Your Turn" host Mike Bates, of radio station <http://www.1330weby.com/> 1330AMWEBY of Pensacola, Florida, Senior Editor <http://www.newenglishreview.org/Editorial_Staff/> Jerry Gordon of the New English Review and <http://www.newenglishreview.org/admin/schanzer.pundicity.com/about/> Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President of Washington, DC- based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies held a radio round table discussion. http://www.newenglishreview.org/files/100/Image/Mike_Bates_WEBY_SMALL_3.jpgB ates: Good afternoon and welcome to Your Turn. This is a special edition of Your Turn today. It is another of our Middle East round table discussions. I have with me in the studio here in Pensacola, Florida, Jerry Gordon. Jerry is the Senior Editor with the New English Review and its blog, The Iconoclast. Jerry Gordon welcome to Your Turn, http://www.newenglishreview.org/files/100/Image/Jerry_Gordon_709_2.jpgGordon : Glad to be back. Bates: Jonathan Schanzer joins us from Washington D.C. Jonathan Schanzer is Vice President for Research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD). Jonathan welcome to Your Turn. http://www.newenglishreview.org/files/100/Image/jon_schanzer_3.jpgJonathan: Thank you. Bates: We will begin by discussing President Obama's address last Thursday regarding Israel and the two state solution. The President called for Israel to "go back to its pre-1967 boundaries" so before we get into the details let's define those pre 1967 boundaries. Just what does President Obama want Israel to give up in exchange for this elusive peace with the Palestinians? Jonathan? (READ MORE <http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/90360/sec_id/90360> ) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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