Israel rebuffs Obama’s 1967 borders call
May 20th, 2011 - 5:58 pm ICT by IANS
Moscow, May 20 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Barack Obama’s call for Israel’s 1967 borders to be taken as the starting point for talks on a future Palestinian state.
In a landmark speech to the State Department Thursday, Obama said the peace negotiations should result in “a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel”.
“The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states,” the US president said.
Netanyahu’s office said the borders that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war were “indefensible”.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said Israel appreciated “President Obama’s commitment to peace” but believed that for peace to endure “the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state”.
Netanyahu is meeting Obama for talks at the White House later Friday.
The statement said Netanyahu was expecting Obama to reaffirm US commitments made to Israel in 2004.
“Among other things, those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centres in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines,” the statement said.
“Those commitments also ensure Israel’s well-being as a Jewish state by making clear that Palestinian refugees will settle in a future Palestinian state rather than in Israel.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Obama’s effort to start fresh negotiations with Israel.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
sd/dg
- Abbas pledges to continue peace talks with Israel - Jan 23, 2012
- Israel to be generous in Palestine deal: Netanyahu - May 25, 2011
- Israel may resolve Middle East crisis unilaterally: Minister - May 31, 2012
- Palestinian group accuses Obama of u-turn - May 25, 2011
- Obama advocates two-state solution in Middle East - May 20, 2011
- Russia urges Israel to halt settlement construction - Nov 03, 2011
- Palestinians not optimistic about peace with new Israeli government - May 09, 2012
- Netanyahu calls for stepped up settlement construction - Nov 02, 2011
- 12 Arabs killed for violating Golan Heights truce line - Jun 05, 2011
- Israel criticises Palestinian president's UN speech - Sep 24, 2011
- Israel nod for Quartet peace plan, urges Palestinian acceptance - Oct 02, 2011
- Israel declines to accept Palestine's Unesco membership - Nov 01, 2011
- Obama 'backed out of land promise to Palestinians' - Jan 25, 2011
- Israel: Palestinian President Abbas set impossible conditions for direct peace talks - Jul 29, 2010
- US concerned over Israeli housing construction in West Bank - Aug 10, 2011
Tags: arab israeli war, authority president mahmoud abbas, barack obama, benjamin netanyahu, israeli population, israeli prime minister, jewish state, judea and samaria, landmark speech, mahmoud abbas, minister benjamin netanyahu, palestinian authority, palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas, palestinian refugees, palestinian state, peace negotiations, population centres, president mahmoud abbas, prime minister benjamin, ria novosti