President Barack Obama on Thursday made a bold suggestion—and one that
has drawn the ire of Israel. Obama wants the borders of Israel and
Palestine to be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps.
In a series of rapid-fire tweets from the Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s media office, Israel made it very clear that it doesn’t
intend to go along with Obama’s plan.
“Israelis are concerned that the pre-1967 borders are indefensible. I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu is right to stress this point,” says Christians United for Israel founder and Chairman John Hagee. “CUFI believes strongly in supporting the democratically elected government of Israel as it seeks to deliver peace and security to its people. The response of the Christian Zionist community has been overwhelming. America’s Christian Zionists are firmly behind Israel’s right to determine for itself how best to achieve peace and security.”
The U.S. made commitments to Israel in 2004 that include, among other
things, Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines. Israel remains
steadfast in its view that no territorial concession will bring peace
and called for Palestinians to recognize Israel as a nation state of
Jewish people.
“Given Israel’s repeated risks for peace over the years, we believe America must respect Israel’s democratically elected government and the will of the Israeli people,” said David Brog, CUFI’s executive director. “We believe that this outpouring of support makes clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that Christians across America are standing firmly with Israel.”
