Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama attempted to lay a new course when it comes to Middle East policy.
By most accounts, his speech -- which was obviously written with the idea in mind that it would be a "watershed" moment in his presidency -- failed.
Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House to speak with his American counterpart.
Only Netanyahu didn't just speak with him...he spoke to him...it was more like "instructed" him in the realities of Middle East history and policy.
Benajamin Netanyahu (left) explains reality to Barack Obama...
ABC News' Jake Tapper was at the White House and he filed this report:
In Oval Office, Bibi Offers History Lessons to Obama
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to think he needed to educate President Obama on some issues today, so in the Oval Office he described in some detail to the president a history of the refugee problem in the region dating back 63 years, as well as his view on the need for Israel to be able to defend itself in the context of thousands of years of Jewish suffering.
“We don't have a lot of margin for error,” Netanyahu said to the president. “Because, Mr. President, history will not give the Jewish people another chance.”
Netanyahu, whose father is a retired academic, offered the president repeated history lessons, saying Jews have “been around for almost 4,000 years. We have experienced struggle and suffering like no other people. We've gone through expulsions and pogroms and massacres and the murder of millions. But I can say that even at the dearth of -- even at the nadir of the valley of death, we never lost hope and we never lost our dream of reestablishing a sovereign state in our ancient homeland, the land of Israel.”
Yesterday, President Obama angered Netanyahu by -- for the first time -- stating as a matter of U.S. policy that “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.”
“We don't have a lot of margin for error,” Netanyahu said to the president. “Because, Mr. President, history will not give the Jewish people another chance.”
Netanyahu, whose father is a retired academic, offered the president repeated history lessons, saying Jews have “been around for almost 4,000 years. We have experienced struggle and suffering like no other people. We've gone through expulsions and pogroms and massacres and the murder of millions. But I can say that even at the dearth of -- even at the nadir of the valley of death, we never lost hope and we never lost our dream of reestablishing a sovereign state in our ancient homeland, the land of Israel.”
Yesterday, President Obama angered Netanyahu by -- for the first time -- stating as a matter of U.S. policy that “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.”
No comments:
Post a Comment