Netanyahu: Israel ready for painful compromises

[Roland99]

Source: AP (via Yahoo)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Tuesday to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, for the first time explicitly saying that some West Bank settlements would find themselves outside Israel's final borders.

But he tacked on a list of oft-stated conditions that have been unacceptable to the Palestinians in the past, making his peace blueprint unlikely to entice them back to the negotiating table.

Speaking before a warmly receptive joint meeting of Congress that showered him with more than two dozen sustained standing ovations, Netanyahu said Israel wants and needs peace but repeated his flat rejection of a return to what he called the "indefensible" borders that Israel had before the 1967 Mideast war.

...

And Netanyahu maintained anew that contested Jerusalem could not be shared with the Palestinians, who want the eastern sector of the holy city as capital of their hoped-for state. And he insisted that Israel maintain a long-term military presence on what would be the eastern border of a Palestinian state.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110524/ap_on_re_us/us_us_israel

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[Poll_Blind]

1. Won't share Jerusalem? One step forwards, two steps back.

PB

[gratuitous]

2. We've already wasted decades

What's another century or more of constant conflict and terroristic tit for tat? Some arms dealers are going to make a lot of money, and really, what's more important than making some coin? Sure, it sucks to be the folks caught between the hammer and the anvil, but if life really worth living if you can't sacrifice it for the greater profits of the munitions industry?

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[azurnoir]

4. yes painful except for Jerusalem, no RoR , and 'negotiations' with a unity government

link to full text of speech with examples given

Now, this is not easy for me. It's not easy, because I recognize that in a genuine peace, we'll be required to give up parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland. And you have to understand this: In Judea and Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. (Cheers, applause.)


And here is what this means. It means that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel. (Applause.)

You know, everybody knows this. It's time to say it. It's important.

And as for Jerusalem, only a democratic Israel has protected the freedom of worship for all faiths in the city. (Applause.) Throughout the millennial history of the Jewish capital, the only time that Jews, Christians and Moslems could worship freely, could have unfettered access to their holy sites has been during Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem.

Israel is prepared to sit down today and negotiate peace with the Palestinian Authority. I believe we can fashion a brilliant future for our children. But Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by the Palestinian version of al-Qaeda. That we will not do. (Applause.)

So I say to President Abbas: Tear up your pact with Hamas! Sit down and negotiate. Make peace with the Jewish state. (Applause.) And if you do, I promise you this: Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian state as a new member of the United Nations; it will be the first to do so. (Extended applause.)


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/transcript-of-prime-minister-netanyahus-address-to-us-congress/article2032842/

[tootrueleft]

5. The aid needs to stop NOW. A real friend knows when to say enough is enough.

[global1]

6. I Heard That There Was A Commotion In The Audience When He....

spoke to Congress. What happened? What was said? What happened to the offender?

[azurnoir]

7. see here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x586088

[global1]

9. Thanks - But That Clip Was From the AIPAC Speech - There Was An Outburst Today In His Congressional.

address. That's the one I wanted to hear about.

[azurnoir]

10. the only 'outbursts' at todays speech I heard of were the ones that consisted

cheers from Congress

[azurnoir]

11. here albeit it does not show the 'heckler'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4861921

Haaretz identifies her as an Israeli-American

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/heckler-yells-stop-israeli-war-crimes-during-netanyahu-s-speech-to-congress-1.363856

[Muskypundit]

8. The offender was placed upon a stone tablet, and sacrificed to god.

God did not object.

[Nitram]

12. I'll believe it

when I see it. "Painful compromise"? They'll close one illegal settlement: the smallest one.

[harun]

13. End the aid now.

:puke: