Israel

Obama Didn't Shift U.S. Policy On Israel -- A Look Back At The Record

Susan Crabtree and Igor Bobic | May 27, 2011, 2:52PM

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu

There has been so much uproar in the last week over President Obama's statements about Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations beginning around 1967 borders - along with land swaps -- that TPM wanted to lay out the record on whether this policy really amounted to a shift - if even ever so slightly - from the policies of previous administrations.

Prime Minister Netanyahu flat-out rejected any return to 1967 boundaries a week ago Friday during a tense meeting at the White House, saying that such a plan was "indefensible." Days later, to rapturous applause at a joint session of Congress, he once again turned down any suggestion that Israel withdraw to its 1967 borders, although by then he and Obama appeared to have mended some fences after Obama gave a speech to the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee reiterating his commitment to Israel as close friend and ally.

But does Obama's position constitute a tangible shift in U.S. policy towards the peace process, or is it merely an affirmation of a long-recognized understanding?

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Israel

Andrews Stands By Remark That Obama 'Tilting Towards Hamas'

Susan Crabtree | May 25, 2011, 5:23PM

Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ).

Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) is sticking to his statement made Tuesday that President Obama is "tilting towards Hamas" -- and went further on Wednesday complaining that the President's comments last week about the starting point for peace negotiations, and the subsequent uproar, has bolstered the Palestinians' standing.

Andrews said Obama had given Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party has entered into a unity agreement with their rivals Hamas, an excuse to insist on preconditions before sitting down at the negotiating table with Israel. He was referring to comments Obama made during a major speech last week that the borders of Israel and a future Palestinian state should be based on 1967 lines with agreed upon swaps.

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Israel/Palestine

Netanyahu Addresses Supportive U.S. Congress

Susan Crabtree | May 24, 2011, 3:13PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rounded out a tumultuous visit to Washington with a speech to a largely sympathetic Congress Tuesday, compared to the tense relations on display with President Obama last week.

During the address, Netanyahu reaffirmed the close ties between the U.S. and Israel and once again rejected any suggestion of redrawing Israel's borders with a future Palestinian state along 1967 lines.

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Pres '12

Cain: 'I Didn't Understand The Right Of Return' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | May 24, 2011, 10:39AM

Presidential candidate Herman Cain (R)

Businessman and presidential candidate Herman Cain appeared on Sean Hannity's TV show Tuesday night, to do some clean-up duty after he seemed to accidentally acknowledge a potential right of return to Israel for Palestinian refugees, who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, or for their descendants. As Cain now admits, he simply did not know what the question was referring to -- and he added, he has now learned that they were not expelled at all.

"A lot of people think you didn't understand the right of return," said Hannity.

"They are exactly right, Sean. Chris [Wallace] caught me off guard. I didn't understand the right of return," said Cain. "That came out of left field. And of all the questions that I anticipated him asking me, I didn't even conceive of him asking me about the right of return. I now know what that is.

"The thing that you're gonna learn about Herman Cain, if he doesn't know something, he's not going to try and fake it, or give an answer that he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Funny thing, though: When Cain on Sunday had paused awkwardly during the questioning from Wallace, and then said that a right of return was "something that should be negotiated," was that not trying to fake it and give an answer about something where he didn't know what he was talking about?

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Barack Obama

Democrats Glad Obama Clarified His Remarks On Israel

Susan Crabtree | May 23, 2011, 6:39PM

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY)

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) tried to emphasize the positive one day after President Obama clarified his remarks about where to begin in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process after his initial statements on the issue last week created a firestorm among ardent supporters of Israel.

"I'm glad he clarified his remarks," Lowey told TPM at the annual American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee conference. "I'm glad we're all on the same page now."

Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), a strong supporter of Israel, was much more sympathetic to Obama and his comments over the last few days, arguing that Obama never meant to advocate for a return to the 1967 armistice. He also gave Obama high marks for his follow-up speech.

"He wanted to make a strong point that these would be adjustments to the armistice," Rothman said. "And he said the relationship between the two nations is outstanding ... that the U.S. commitment to Israel is ironclad."

Obama had alienated the Jewish community during a speech last Thursday in which he called for the peace negotiations to begin with the boundaries that existed before the 1967 Six Day War in which Israel forces captured east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Obama stressed the need for additional "mutually agreed upon" land swaps, but that didn't prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from angrily denouncing any return to the 1967 boundaries while sitting alongside Obama in the Oval Office on Friday.

The President on Sunday appeared to mend some fences with the Jewish and pro-Israel community by addressing 10,000 AIPAC attendees and insisting he is a "real friend" of Israel.

Regarding his speech last week at the State Department and his comment about 1967 lines the president was adamant that he had been "misrepresented several times."

Obama agreed that Israel could not go back to the 1967 borders as they were, and that "mutually agreed" land swaps would be necessary. Yet, to the consternation of some at the conference, he continued to suggest that Israel's actions were creating delays that were unacceptable to the international community.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md), who spoke to the conference earlier Sunday, provided a stark contrast to Obama's speech by urging Palestinian leaders to return to the negotiating table without preconditions and urging the United Nations not to recognize an independent Palestinian state as long as it continued an alliance with Hamas.

Herman Cain

Whoops! Herman Cain Tries To Clean Up His Israel 2012 Rollout #Fail (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 23, 2011, 10:40AM

Herman Cain

The right of return is apparently not as simple as sending your pizza back.

In his first major television interview as a Republican presidential candidate, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain stumbled badly on an issue near and dear to GOP hearts: the unconditional support for the state of Israel and its political leaders.

Cain, who has been suggested as a potential Tea Party spoiler in the nomination fight, stopped by Fox News Sunday to talk about his campaign on the morning after he launched it. He walked away bruised and requiring the requisite walkback statement from his staff that has been a hallmark of GOP campaign rollouts lately.

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Israel/Palestine

Hatch To Introduce Senate Resolution Opposing Obama On Israel-Palestine

Eric Kleefeld | May 20, 2011, 6:11PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has hopped on the Republican bandwagon against President Obama's call for a return to negotiations for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict -- and has now announced that he will introduce a Senate resolution opposing the president's proposals.

Hatch released a statement, entitled "Hatch Condemns President's Demand that Israel Revert to Pre-1967 Borders."

"Israel is the United States' strongest friend and ally. By calling for a return to the pre-1967 borders, President Obama has directly undermined her," Hatch declared. "Rather than stand by Israel against consistent unprovoked aggression by longtime supporters of terrorism, President Obama is rewarding those who threaten Israel's very right to exist. This is not only ridiculous, but dangerous. There is strong disapproval in Congress for the President's new posture towards Israel, and I will introduce a resolution next week affirming Israel's right to maintain its territorial integrity."

In fact, Obama did not call for a direct return to the 1967 borders for Israel, as Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have represented. Instead, he reiterated the longstanding conventional wisdom of the international diplomatic community, and indeed the position of previous U.S. administrations, that those lines should be the initial basis for talks, and with additional land swaps to be agreed upon in further adjusting those lines.

Pres '12

Gingrich: Congress Should Condemn Obama's Israel-Palestine Proposals

Eric Kleefeld | May 20, 2011, 4:43PM

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Newt Gingrich is coming out strongly against President Obama's call for a return to negotiations for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict -- and calling upon Congress to formally condemn Obama's proposals.

"Congress in the next week should pass resolutions in the House and Senate condemning the president setting the 1967 lines," Gingrich told a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Sioux City, Iowa, the Des Moines Register reports.

Gingrich also called Obama's Thursday speech "disastrous," and added: "A president who can't control his own border shouldn't lecture Israel on their border.

To be clear, Obama did not call for a direct return to the 1967 borders for Israel, as Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have represented. Instead, he reiterated the longstanding conventional wisdom of the international diplomatic community, and indeed the position of previous U.S. administrations, that those lines should be the initial basis for talks, and with additional land swaps to be agreed upon in further adjusting those lines.

Barack Obama

Netanyahu Flat-Out Rejects Return To 1967 Borders After Meeting With Obama

Susan Crabtree | May 20, 2011, 2:52PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat alongside President Obama in the Oval Office Friday and flat-out rejected any attempt to convince Israel to withdraw to its 1967 borders to allow for an adjacent Palestinian state, a move Obama had suggested in a major speech just the day before.

In lengthy comments after their meeting, Netanyahu said he and Obama shared the same goal of establishing peace between Israel and Palestine, but there are some "realities" that must be dealt with first.

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Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck Alludes To The Holocaust In Defense Of Israel Rally (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | May 17, 2011, 6:20PM

It was almost inevitable that Glenn Beck would bring up the Holocaust when talking about his planned rally in Israel this summer, and it seems that Tuesday was the day.

"This August," Beck said on his Fox News show, "this journey to Israel for me is personal. It's not about celebrity or teaching anybody a lesson or sending a message to any earthly power. It is about sending a message to our maker and letting him hear our message, as individuals. That this time, I will stand and I will be counted. I will not cower as people have in the past. I will not stand by and watch a whole race of people be called vermin."

"Because I've read history," he continued. "I know how it ended last time and I know how it started. First they came for the Jews, and I said nothing. Let me declare to the entire world, and ask who's with me. This time I will stand. This time I will say something. This time I will be a force for good."

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Glenn Beck

Anti-Islam Pastor: Glenn Beck's Jerusalem Rally Is A 'Scam' By A 'Mormon Cult Member'

Jillian Rayfield | May 17, 2011, 11:09AM

Bill Keller, an anti-Islam pastor from Florida, is highly offended that "Mormon cult member" Glenn Beck would organize a rally in Israel, calling it Beck's "latest scam on the Christian community, and an exploitation of Israel that plays on the love Christians have for the Jewish people and the land of Israel."

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Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck Announces 'Restoring Courage' Rally In Israel This Summer

Jillian Rayfield | May 16, 2011, 11:10AM

On his radio show Monday, Glenn Beck announced that he'll be holding a "Restoring Courage" rally this August in Jerusalem, which he said would be a "life altering event" that the "very gates of hell" would try to prevent.

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