Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today told US President Barack Obama that Tel Aviv cannot return to "indefensible" 1967 borders, demanding that Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas choose between unity with Hamas and peace with the Jewish state.
The meeting between Obama and Netanyahu came a day after US president said the borders of Israel and Palestine
should be based on the 1967 lines.
Netanyahu said for there to be peace, the Palestinians will have to accept some basic realities.
"Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, but it cannot go back to the 1967 lines, because these
lines are indefensible," he said in a joint media availability with Obama at the Oval Office.
"They do not take into account certain demographic changes on the ground that have taken place over the last 44 years."
"Remember that before 1967, Israel was all of 9 miles wide -- half the width of the Washington Beltway. And these were not the boundaries of peace; they were the boundaries of repeated wars, because the attack on Israel was so attractive from them. So we can't go back to those indefensible lines," Netanyahu said.
"I think President Abbas has a simple choice. He has to decide if he negotiates or keeps his pact with Hamas, or
makes peace with Israel. And I can only express what I said to you just now: that I hope he makes the choice, the right
choice, of choosing peace with Israel," he said.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the two leaders had long one-o-one meeting during which they discussed
the issues related to the peace process.
"We discussed in depth the principles that I laid out yesterday, the belief that our ultimate goal has to be a secure Israeli state, a Jewish state, living side by side in peace and security with a contiguous, functioning and effective Palestinian state," Obama told reporters.
"Obviously there are some differences between us in the precise formulations and language, and that's going to happen between friends," he said.
"But what we are in complete accord about is that a true peace can only occur if the ultimate resolution allows Israel to defend itself against threats and that Israel's security will remain paramount in US evaluations of any prospective peace deal. I said that yesterday in the speech, and I continue to believe it," he said.
"I think that it is possible for us to shape a deal that allows Israel to secure itself, not to be vulnerable, but also allows it to resolve what has obviously been a wrenching issue for both peoples for decades now," Obama said.
"I also pointed out, as I said in the speech yesterday, that it is very difficult for Israel to be expected to negotiate in a serious way with a party that refuses acknowledge its right to exist. And so for that reason, I think the Palestinians are going to have to answer some very difficult questions about this agreement that's been made between Fatah and Hamas," he said.
