World Citizen: The Truth About Obama, Israel and the 1967 Borders

World Citizen: The Truth About Obama, Israel and the 1967 Borders

When President Barack Obama took the podium at the State Department to outline Washington's new policy framework for the Middle East several weeks ago, he unleashed a storm of controversy that caught many people by surprise. The speech sought to outline a new American stance toward the unfolding changes in the Arab world. But the controversy centered instead on the president's statement regarding the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

When Obama called for a return to negotiations "based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps," he sparked a furious, if rather unusual dispute. On one side, the president's critics declared that Obama had made a dramatic change in U.S. policy. On the other, his supporters said he had simply restated a longstanding approach to the peace process embraced by a series of U.S. administrations long before Obama came to office.

Only moments after the speech ended, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized Obama's proposal as a threat to Israel's survival. "Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians," he said pointedly, "the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state."

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to WPR’s fully searchable library of 16,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news and analysis from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • The Weekly Wrap-Up email, with highlights of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review