If you needed proof that Obama’s Middle East speech was a mistake and simply would embolden Palestinians to pocket the territorial victory, you didn’t need to wait long:
Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Sunday said that he agreed with US President Barack Obama’s assertion that the 1967 borders should be the basis for negotiations with Israel, but that it was more important that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accept this premise.
“Once Netanyahu says that the negotiations will lead to a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, then everything will be set,” Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Erekat as saying. He added that until that happened, negotiations with Israel would not resume.
Note that Erekat says “a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.” Not with the post-script “with land swaps” as proposed by Obama. Because the land swap idea already was rejected by the Palestinians when former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert floated the idea as part of an overall settlement of all issues.
Perhaps Obama could offer a clarification which would induce the Palestinians to be more serious:
“When I said the 1967 border plus land swaps, what I meant was the June 10, 1967 border plus land swaps.”
If that were the American position, we might actually have a chance for peace because the Palestinians would have something to lose by waiting. As of now, waiting is working just fine for them.
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