Nation

May 24, 2011

Bibi to Congress: No compromise on Jerusalem, refugees or Jordan River presence

by Uriel Heilman, JTA

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that any peace deal with the Palestinians must grant Israel a military presence along the Jordan River, exclude repatriation of Palestinian refugees to Israel and leave Jerusalem as Israel’s united capital.

However, the Israeli leader said in his address to a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday, some Jewish settlements in the West Bank would fall outside Israel’s borders in a final peace deal.

Netanyahu did not appear to offer anything new by way of substance for his vision of peace with the Palestinians, saying Israel “would be very generous” about the size of the Palestinian state but providing few details.

“Israel needs unique security arrangements, because of its unique size,” Netanyahu said.

On the dispute over Jerusalem, which he vowed would remain Israel’s undivided capital city, he said, “With creativity and with good will, a solution can be found.”

On the Palestinian refugee, he said Palestinians could not be allowed to immigrate to Israel.

“Palestinians from around the world should have the right to immigrate, if they so choose, to the Palestinian state,” he said. “The Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel.”

On borders and security, Netanyahu reiterated his call for a presence on the western shore of the Jordan River, which demarcates the boundary between the West Bank and Jordan.

“It’s absolutely vital that a Palestinian state be demilitarized,” Netanyahu said, “and it’s absolutely vital that Israel maintain a long-term military presence along the Jordan River.”

In speeches on Sunday and last week, President Obama also called for a “non-militarized” Palestinian state. But the president said the issue of Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem’s status should be left for future negotiations, and that the Palestinian state should have a border with Jordan – a stance that appears to contradict that of Netanyahu.

Netanyahu received a warm reception from Congress, including more than two dozen standing ovations, and made a forceful case highlighting the commonalities between Israel and America and explaining Israel’s security challenges. He talked about the threat of Iran’s nuclear program and said the Palestinian Authority must end its agreement with Hamas, which he called “the Palestinian version of al-Qaida.”

The Israeli prime minister had an informal delivery, cracking several jokes and twice turning around to address Vice President Joe Biden. When a heckler interrupted Netanyahu at one point, Congress tried to drown her out with a standing ovation, much as the pro-Israel crowd at the annual banquet of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee did for the prime minister the previous evening.

“This is real democracy,” Netanyahu said after the heckler had been removed from the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Netanyahu repeated some lines from the night before, when most of Congress joined the crowd at the AIPAC gala. “Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East,” Netanyahu said both days. “Israel is what is right about the Middle East.”

On the Palestinian issue, Netanyahu said, “I’m willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace.” He called the West Bank the Palestinians’ homeland, but rejected the notion that it belongs to them alone.

“In Judea and Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers,” Netanyahu said, referring to the West Bank. “This is the land of our forefathers, the land of Israel to which Abraham brought the idea of one God.”

He laid the blame for the failure of the peace process on the Palestinians’ refusal to accept a Jewish state.

“Our conflict has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said. “It’s always been about the existence of a Jewish state. That’s what this conflict is about.”

 

He said the Palestinians continue to incite against Israelis.

“I stood before my people and said I will accept a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said. “It’s time for President Abbas to stand before his people and say: I will accept a Jewish state.”

As for the contours of a future Palestinian state, Netanyahu indicated that large settlement blocs would become part of Israel, along with “other areas of critical strategic and national importance,” but that, “in any real peace agreement, in any peace agreement that ends the conflict, some settlements will end up beyond Israel’s borders.”

He said, “We recognize that a Palestinian state must be big enough to be viable, to be independent, to be prosperous.”

The Israeli prime minister cited Obama’s declaration that the borders will not return to those of June 4, 1967, repeating his own reaction to Obama’s May 19 speech: “Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967,” Netanyahu said.

A large part of the speech was devoted to trying to shift the focus back onto Iran’s march toward a nuclear weapon.

“They could put a bomb anywhere. They could put it in a missile,” Netanyahu said. “They could eventually put it in a suitcase or on a subway.”

Netanyahu praised Obama for shepherding sanctions against Iran through the U.N. Security Council and saluted America for not staying silent in the face of calls from Tehran for Israel’s destruction.

Netanyahu added, “The more Iran believes all options are on the table, the less the chance of confrontation.”

 

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Finally, the tensions in the middle east are identified: peace is not about Israel recognizing a Palestinian state but the Palestinian’s refusal to recognize a Jewish state. Congradulation Mr. Prime Minister on a great speech to Congress.  Is there now anyway we can exchange heads of state with Israel?

Comment by stan barry on 5/24/11 at 11:10 am

Brilliant speech..Proud to be a Jew.

Comment by Nick Jansen on 5/24/11 at 12:05 pm

In practise, it boils down to the present Gov’t of Israel agreeing to remove a number of settlements from the WeBank, or changing the Gov’t, or getting approval by plebiscite.
The problem: the Orthodox will reject this move.  A plebiscite will be needed also on the Falasteenian side, or a future Fal’n leadership might reject the Agreement.
A potential solution for Jerusalem would be that the Eastern part would be part of Falasteen, the Western part & the Old City part of Israel, but the Municipality be shared.  I.e. one city for two countries. An experiment for sure, but it could be practical.  An economic agreement between Israel, Falasteen, and Jordan would need to follow.

Comment by Samir on 5/24/11 at 12:17 pm

Just saw Saeb Erakat interviewed on Aljezeera in English, and he said “There are 1,5 million Arabs in Israel, how dare Natanyahu call it a Jewish state”.
That’s what we’re up against. They want to flood Israel with millions of downtrodden, abused, neglected Arabs from all over the Middle East.

Comment by Nick on 5/24/11 at 1:04 pm

So the AIPAC has its annual Nuremberg rally and hails its fuehrer from across the ocaean and then the next day he gets standing ovations from the largest gathering of candidates for treason in American history, namely the US Congress, and all seems well in the encapsulated world that is Zionism. But down the road awaits a harsh reality, that of the real world finally dealing with a country that believes in no rules other than those it chooses.

Comment by Hollywood Jeff on 5/24/11 at 1:55 pm

To suggest that Israel is the obstacle to peace is to affirm lack of contact with reality, complete. And when viewed through a historical prism, it seems fair to relate That the Israeli State, inter al.:
Is an Oasis of Freedom in a Desert of Despotism, an Island of Peace in a Sea of Hostility and a civilized Outpost in a Savage Region.

Hyperbole? Of course,
But only to accentuate the less sharply delineated underlying differences. No peace, according to Golda, until the Arabs come to love their children only half as much as they hate (Israel and Israelis).

Comment by SpecialKinNJ on 5/24/11 at 3:41 pm

Muslims Who Love Death
Suhail Khan: “The early Muslims loved death, dying for the sake of almighty Allah, more than the oppressors loved life,” said an impassioned Khan, who wiped away tears throughout his speech.
Major Nidal M. Hasan “We love death more then [sic] you love life!” Hasan al-Banna’: “The Quran has commanded people to love death more than life.” Osama bin Laden:
“We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the difference between us two.”  Hasan Nasrallah:“We are going to win because they love life and we love death.”
Hamas Motto: “We love death more than the Jews love life.” Khomeini:  “We love death more than you love life.”

Comment by Aaron on 5/24/11 at 4:31 pm

Samir: Honey pours from your mouth, bees should ignore it,for it will only dystroy the hive.

Comment by Honey Bee on 5/24/11 at 5:11 pm

HoneyBee: reviewing what I wrote, I fail to see what caused your ire. Would you do us both the kindness of responding to the points?

Comment by Samir on 5/24/11 at 5:28 pm

SpecialKinNJ quotes Goldy Meyerson as is if she was knowledgeable about how Palestinians feel about their children. Of course, she didn’t call them Palestinians. “There is no such thing as Palestinians,” she said, as I am sure most of the “contributors” to this comments list are aware. She was wrong on every count

Comment by Hollywood Jeff on 5/25/11 at 6:42 am

Suhail Khan:  “The early Muslims loved death, dying for the sake of almighty Allah, more than the oppressors loved life,” said an impassioned Khan, who wiped away tears throughout his speech.
Major Nidal M. Hasan “We love death more then [sic] you love life!“Hasan al-Banna’:  “The Quran has commanded people to love death more than life.”
Osama bin Laden:  “We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the difference between us two.” Hasan Nasrallah:  “We are going to win because they love life and we love death.” Hamas Motto:  “We love death more than the Jews love life.“Khomeini:  “We love death more than you love life.”

Comment by Aaron on 5/25/11 at 6:51 am

Hamas, who is now a part of the Palestinian government, has made is clear that it considers Osama bin Laden a saint.  Palestine,in 1948, was occupied primarily by two groups, Arabs and Jews who were referred to as Palestinian Arabs or Palestinian Jews as opposed to Arabs or Jews in Egypt.  Palestine was never a country, consequently to say that Palestinians did not exist up to 1965 was indeed an accurate statement.

Comment by Aaron on 5/25/11 at 6:58 am

It is clear that Hollywood Jeff is smoking something other than tobacco.  Thanks to President Obama, there will be war.  The outcome will be scary.

Comment by Aaron on 5/25/11 at 7:03 am

Like most sentient observers, Goldy was able to see that folks who really loved their children would behave dif.fer.ent.ly!

Comment by SpecialKinNJ on 5/25/11 at 7:17 am

Jeff&Aaron;&everyone; else: before the PLO there were four types of Palestinian Arabs: 1) Beduins (hundreds to low thou); 2) families long resident west of the Jordan, some of whom trace descendancy from Jews, others from Christians (low dozens of thou?); 3) immigrants mainly from Syria during the 19th Cent Effendi period of Arab settlements (a Turkish initiative to increase the abysmal tax revenue), as well as other places eg North Africa, Egypt, Persia, Cherkessia, Bosnia (several dozen thou);

Comment by Samir on 5/25/11 at 7:45 am

4) immigrants from all over during the 20th Cent’y, due to the economic improvements caused by the Yahood and Brits.  However, by 1966 the Arabs of Palestine had already ceased calling themselves South Syrians, and had since the 1930 begun evolution into what is today called Falasteenians. The process is still evolving, very much in emulation of the Yahood entity.

Comment by Samir on 5/25/11 at 7:45 am

Samir: One cannot remove Jerusalem from Israel anymore then you can removve the Queen Bee from the hive!  They are integeral to the whole.

Comment by Honey Bee on 5/25/11 at 8:12 am

HoneyBee: that is not quite so, other than emotionally. My solution is better in all respects but the emotional. For all.

Comment by Samir on 5/25/11 at 8:33 am

HoneyBee: correction, I did not say “remove Jerusalem from Israel”, you did - and I resent being misquoted.

Comment by Samir on 5/25/11 at 8:36 am

To devide is to remove.  As for resentment;“BUCK-UP"Samir!

Comment by Honey Bee on 5/25/11 at 8:55 am

Someone, above, resented being misquoted.

Tell it to Newt and Barack!!

Comment by SpecialKinNJ on 5/25/11 at 8:59 am

HoneyBee: indeed remove, that is remove all those thousands of Falasteenian Jerusalemites that do not wish to be Israeli, nor live in Israel even with Falasteenian citizenship, and more to the point for an Israeli, remove from Israel thousands of Arabs who are really not welcome in the “Jewish State” (Bibi’s words).

Comment by Samir on 5/25/11 at 12:41 pm

Samir: Jerusalem will not be devided. Neither physically or by fiat. As to where they will live the inhabitants thereof will need to decide that question for themselves.  P.S. You misquoted Bibi.

Comment by Honey Bee on 5/25/11 at 1:53 pm

HoneuBee: “Jewish State” was a direct Bibi quote. As for Jerusalem not being divided, should you have the patience to reread my proposal, you will see it actually is not.  At least not municipally, only State-ly (to coin a word).
I think Israel has no desire to rule over thousands of people who want nothing to do with the “Jewish State”.

Comment by Samir on 5/26/11 at 9:16 am

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