WASHINGTON — Israel’s prime minister promised to present his vision for an Israeli-Palestinian peace in a speech to U.S. lawmakers today but vowed his country would not return to mid-1967 borders that he termed “indefensible.”
Benjamin Netanyahu made his pledge in an address Monday to thousands of pro-Israel U.S. Jews and lawmakers. His speech drew roaring cheers and standing ovations, a sign of the powerful backing he has in the U.S. as the White House pressures him to do more to renew stalled Mideast peacemaking.
The warm reception Netanyahu received at the gala dinner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee contrasted sharply with the contentious quality of some of his recent exchanges with President Barack Obama over border issues.
His address today to a joint meeting of Congress, where Israel has strong bipartisan backing, could similarly remind Obama, ahead of his re-election bid, of the political price he might pay if he tries to push Netanyahu too hard.
In that speech, Netanyahu said, he will “outline a vision for a secure Israeli-Palestinian peace.” But in language that suggested he was not going to take a conciliatory pose, he vowed to “speak the unvarnished truth.”
“This conflict has raged for 100 years because the Palestinians refuse to end it. They refuse to accept a Jewish state,” Netanyahu said. A peace agreement, he said, must assure Israel’s security.
“Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 borders,” he declared, rekindling the dispute with Obama in a possible effort to placate territorial hardliners in his government.
Last week, in a major Mideast policy speech, Obama took the position that any negotiations on final borders of the Jewish and Palestinian states must be based on the boundaries Israel held in 1967 before capturing east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — lands the Palestinians claim for their hoped-for state.
In direct statements and through aides, Netanyahu suggested Obama did not understand Israel’s security needs or the realities of the conflict-riven Mideast.
Obama said clearly in his policy speech and in his address before AIPAC on Sunday that the territorial markers could be adjusted through mutually agreed land swaps — a principle accepted by the Palestinians that would allow Israel to retain major settlement blocs and help assure its security.
