In sports, the job of referees and umpires is to be
honest, not fair. If their job was to be fair, there would be no penalties or
errors, and every game would end in a tie. But that's the land of make-believe,
where everyone goes home a winner no matter the real score is. That may work
for children, but we live in a world of adult reality.
In President Obama's May 19, 2011 declaration that Israel
must revert to its pre-1967 borders, he used the word 'fair' as he does often.
President Obama spoke about being "…fair, and that respects the
rights and aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians." In that context,
anyone attending a medical convention should be called doctor for just aspiring
to be a doctor despite never attending college, but that too is not reality. As
such, the realities of the pre-1967 borders need to be placed in context to be
fully understood.
Two days prior to that speech, President Obama met with King
Abdulah of Jordan who was seen as a moderate, but he apparently set the table
for what he thought would be the demise of Israel. That somewhat backfired when
Prime Minister Netanyahu refused to be silent while on global news networks.
In 1993, the Oslo Accords were signed by Israel, creating the
Palestine Authority which gave the Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist
group a fresh name. Despite getting a new soul, the PA chose to retain its ties
to terrorism by keeping the PLO name in all world diplomacy, including in
official filings to the United Nations and United States.
As I detail in my book Boycotting Peace, the Oslo Accords
presented a problem for the PA/PLO. After signing it, Arabs realized it would
mean accepting a final status state which was less than they promised their
constituents. One look at the official PA/PLO logo reveals their vision of
Palestine completely replaces Israel. Implementing Oslo means the Palestinians
would never achieve what they promised their children and the Arab world.
Oslo, therefore, was a complete failure to Arab world. In
2002, nine years after Oslo accords were signed, Saudi Arabia proposed dumping
Oslo and reverting to the 1967 borders, a plan which was quickly rejected
because President Bush and the rest of the world knew it would result in
Israel's complete destruction, thus was a non-starter.
Still, Israel pressed on for peace, and in 2005 unilaterally
withdrew from Gaza as a goodwill gesture. I believe this was a mistake since
Israel gave up a negotiation bargaining chip. Israel could have offered a
land-swap then to create a contiguous Palestinian state by extending Gaza
eastward, eliminating the central bulge threat a Palestinian state in central
Israel would potentially create. However, this would require all Arab nations
to accept Israel's right to exist and cease all other claims to Israel, which
is highly unlikely in any deal, and the reason peace between Israel and the
Arab world is nearly impossible to achieve.
Fast forward to 2011, nine years after the Saudi plan was
first rejected, the same exact plan was proposed, this time by President Obama.
Where did the idea come from? I believe it was from King Abdulah of Jordan who
falsely told President Obama that the pre-1967 borders was the starting point
of all negotiations. However, no Israeli government ever considered such
borders.
The fact is Israel has always maintained a policy of
retaining a security zone. King Abdulah conveniently forgot to mention
returning Israel to the pre-1967 lines eliminated Israel's security. There is a
reason for that. The Arab world has consistently failed in war with Israel and
considering the geography which would put Israel in a valley, returning to the
pre-1967 presents the Arab world with their best chance to destroy Israel.
Most importantly, the Arab world gratuitously picked pre-1967
borders. While Arabs tout U.N. Resolution 242 of 1967, that hardly resulted in
the secure borders called for. In fact, the Arab world started another war
against Israel in 1973 and if anything, the lack of all-out war against Israel
since 1973 proves Israel now has secure borders are thanks to lands captured in
wars everyone agrees the Arabs started.
When Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu met President Obama in
the Oval Office, he took the opportunity to set the record straight, something
I believe the neither the Saudi's nor King Abdulah anticipated. The Jewish
world was up in arms over the Obama speech and Netanyahu's words became the
news topic for days, reminding the world why Israel can't just gratuitously
give the Palestinians the state they want.
Although he tried to step back from his call for 1967 borders
a few days layer while speaking at the AIPAC conference, the virtual silence
was deafening when Obama tried to justify and even soften his 1967 calls. This
was from AIPAC, a group dominated by very liberal Jews, clearly indicating
President Obama just lost a considerable amount of Jewish support for his
upcoming re-election bid. In contrast, Prime Minister Netanyahu received a
standing ovation at the same AIPAC conference when he said "Israel Cannot
return to the indefensible 1967 lines."
While some members of the media are upset at Prime Minister
Netanyahu for lecturing and rebuffing President Obama in the Oval Office, one
thing is clear - the American Jewish community clearly and firmly stands in
opposition to President Obama's plan for Israel. When running for office, then
candidate Obama promised to reset relations with the Arab world, and that is
exactly what he did. He went in Libya after consulting with the Arab League and
has not consulted with Congress, even after the 60-day War powers Act deadline
has passed. He also gave credence to the Saudi Arabian so called 'peace' plan
which is nothing more than a pan-Arab plan to get Israel into a non-defendable
position. Remember, although there is an armistice, Saudi Arabia is at war with
Israel and pays stipends to the families of suicide bombers who murder Israelis
and Americans in Israel. Saudi Arabia has never shown the slightest interest in
peace with Israel.
Meanwhile at AIPAC, President Obama stated Israel's Iron Dome
to stop Katusha rockets from Hamas in Gaza is a fair response. Long before
that, President Obama has admonished Israel for trying to prevent such attacks
in the first place. As such, President Obama has essentially stated it is
acceptable for Palestinians to attack Israeli, and the only fair response from
Israel is to take the terrorist attacks and play catch like a child.
Let's be honest. President Obama's Saudi plan would put
Israel a permanent state of active defense in which any one single error by
Israel could result in the end of Israel's existence. As we witnessed with
Libya, President Obama is more concerned with Arab League concerns than with
American concerns, not to mention Israeli concerns. President Obama has
abandoned the honest fact that the main ambition of Arab world is to destroy
Israel, and the main ambition of Israel is to live in peace without the fear of
Arab terrorism.
President Obama, it is time for you to reset your foreign
policy again, this time to honesty and reality. |
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