Netanyahu Finally Draws a Line in the Sand

From OneJerusalem


This week, Prime Minister Netanyahu journeyed to the United States to speak to the General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America and to meet with President Obama. Many stories have been written about the Obama meeting. Some have reported that Obama placed demands related to the Palestinians on Netanyahu before he agreed to meet him. Other reports suggested that Obama was not happy with Netanyahu's speech -- that it did not go far enough in uplifting the sagging political condition of Abbas.
Whatever stories may be true, one part of Netanyahu's speech deserves our undivided attention:
"Now, what do I mean by the Jewish state? It is a state in which all individuals and all minorities have equal individual rights. Yet our national symbols, our language our culture spring from the heritage of the Jewish people. And most importantly, any Jew from anywhere in the world has a right to immigrate to Israel and become a citizen. I want to make it clear: Any Jew, of any denomination, will always have a right to come home to the Jewish state. Religious pluralism and tolerance will always guide my policy. Now what does a Jewish state mean for the Palestinians? It means that they must recognize that the fantasy of flooding Israel with refugees is gone; that they give up irredentist claims to the Negev and to the Galilee, and that they declare unequivocally that the conflict is finally over."


Did these words upset Obama? For sure they rankled Abbas and his Fatah gang. Despite all their sophistication in addressing the Western press and elected officials, the Palestinian leadership have not figured out how to deal with the Jewish State problem. By throwing down the gauntlet on this issue Netanyahu goes to the heart of the divide between Israel, Obama, the EU and the PA as it interjects an uncomfortable fact: Abbas wants a Palestinian State but he does not want a Jewish State. Exposing his stance here is important, necessary, and long overdue. Abbas and Arafat before have been given a free pass on this seminal issue. Those days are over.



For decades, the world, including Israel's governments have allowed the Palestinians to establish un-historical claims to the land while they refuse to recognize a Jewish State. Even the talk about two states does not specify Israel as a Jewish State. Again let me emphasize that the State of Israel has not argued that Israel should be recognized as a Jewish State, until now. And why didn't Israel makes this argument? Because that stance would have ended so called "negotiations" with the Palestinians because they are adamantly opposed to a Jewish state - their end game is one Palestinian state. That is why they continue to claim that ancient Israel did not exist on this land. They continue to declare that Solomon's Temple never existed. Their fictional account of reality must be exposed. Prime Minister Netanyahu should be supported in this campaign for the Jewish State. When he delivered his first policy speech on relations with the Palestinians he declared that Israel must be recognized by the Palestinians as a Jewish state. After the speech, Abbas, President of the Palestinians, a man who looks so Western and civilized was asked if he would recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He refused to answer the question. Because his answer would be an unacceptable no. The fight for the Jewish State is now officially engaged.



Jimmy Root Jr
Author: Distant Thunder Book One of the Lighting Chronicles Amazon.com
www.lightningchronicles.com