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World Jewish News
Settler leaders: 'Hussein Obama' bought into Arab lies
04.06.2009
Settler leaders reacted with frustration in the wake of U.S. President Obama's speech in Cairo on Thursday, Israel Radio reported.
"Today, the State of Israel is paying the price of its leaders' defeatism," Yesha Council said in a statement. "Hussein Obama gave priority to Arab lies, which have always been told with determination and daring, at the expense of the Jewish truth, which has been said in a weak and unconfident voice."
The council called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to emulate former prime ministers Begin and Shamir and "stand up like a proud Jew and reject Obama's fabricated history."
Habayit Hayehudi chairman Daniel Hershkowitz said that Obama ignored the fact that the Palestinians have yet to renounce terror.
"The Israeli government is not an American surplus," he said during a tour of Hebron. "Our relations are based on friendship, not domination, and we've got to draw a line when it comes to natural growth in the settlements."
Kadima MK Ze'ev Boim said that "Obama's speech is yet another proof that Netanyahu miscalculated the foreign policy of the new American administration."
"The President's take on the Palestinian question is similar to Kadima's, and it's a shame that narrow political considerations prevented the Israeli government from espousing the two-state solution which is the only one that can ensure a Jewish and democratic existence in Israel."
Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner said that "Israel could benefit from the America's improved image in the Arab world and leverage it to forge a regional coalition, together with the moderate Arab countries, to counter Iran, but instead the government is engaged in marginal debates on outposts."
Minority Affairs Minister Avishay Braverman (Labor) said that Obama was right that the world's common enemy is extremism and that finding a common strategy is the way to defeat it.
"We should adopt a similar strategy in Jewish-Arab and religious-secular relations, as well as vis-à-vis the Palestinians," Braverman said. "We are committed to the two-state solution."
Meretz leader Haim Oron, for his part, welcomed Obama's speech. He said it was filled with inspiration, optimism and vision.
"The speech is the feat of enlightenment," he said.
An Israeli settler spokeswoman dismissed Obama's speech in Cairo as naive and out of touch with reality.
In his speech, Obama called on Israel to halt all construction in West Bank settlements as a step toward reaching peace with the Palestinians.
Aliza Herbst, a resident of the Ofra settlement, says that modern history has shown that the Muslim world is at war with the West. She says Obama's vision of peace sounds nice but isn't realistic.
Obama's address also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel - a position Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to support.
Peres: Obama visit is a rare opportunity for peace
President Shimon Peres praised Obama's Mideast speech as a historic opportunity in a guest column in The Times
Obama's journey to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Peres wrote, "reflects both the need for an historic change in the Middle East and a unique chance of achieving it."
Peres said that the international options that are being discussed ? the Saudi peace initiative as well as the so-called "57-state solution" proposed by King Abdullah of Jordan ? could create a favorable momentum that would lead to the resolution of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
He called on Arab countries to engage in bilateral negotiations with Israel while espousing a regional process of normalization.
"Support from the entire Arab world will provide legitimacy for the Palestinian Authority as it approaches the difficult task of making and then implementing historic compromises. At the same time it may reassure Israel that the painful concessions it will make will be rewarded by a broader, more enduring comprehensive peace across the region," Peres wrote.
Peres said Obama's fervent commitment to changing American foreign policy in the Middle East is a rare opportunity.
"The regional leaders have to treat these options seriously - not as another photo-opportunity but in a substantive discussion aimed at opening the door towards comprehensive peace and regional economic development," he concluded.
Источник: Haaretz
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