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Just as Israeli officials feared, US President Barack Obama's "vision" of pushing Israel back to it's 1967 borders has become the basis for international peace efforts in the Middle East. Last week, France offered to host renewed peace talks based on the "Obama vision." Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the weekend accepted the French proposal, even though it would likely end his campaign to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state at the UN in September. But it appears just the threat of taking such unilateral action has paid off. A former adviser to US presidents on Middle East issues said that...

A Muslim friend who I greatly respect wrote me that he doesn''t understand why I've been complaining about Obama's speeches. I suggested that the problem is he has been reading media coverage which tends to revolve around one sentence in the State Department speech. All I do is read the entire texts carefully and analyze them. People are saying that Obama's position is the same as Bush's or that he said nothing new. Honest, if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is so upset that he would publicly disagree with the U.S. president he--and others in Israel--have a reason for doing...

It was fitting that Barack Obama was out of the country on the day when a leader walked into a joint session of Congress and spoke the way an American President should. Benjamin Netanyahu's speech extolled America and the ideals for which it stands. The enthusiasm of the members of both the House and Senate was born not only of their admiration and love for the State of Israel, but also because a man of stature stood before them and announced something they haven't heard during the last two years, namely, that America represents the best the world has ever...

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel returned from Washington on Wednesday to a nearly unanimous assessment among Israelis that despite his forceful defense of Israel’s security interests, hopes were dashed that his visit might advance Palestinian peace negotiations. One of the widely articulated goals of his trip, where he met with President Obama and addressed Congress, was to find a way to lure the Palestinians back to direct negotiations, thereby preempting their plan to approach the United Nations in September for recognition of statehood within the pre-1967 lines. Instead, the Palestinians now say, Mr. Netanyahu’s speeches convinced them...

Top Democrats have joined a number of Republicans in challenging President Obama’s policy toward Israel, further exposing rifts that the White House and its allies will seek to mend before next year’s election. The differences, on display as senior lawmakers addressed a pro-Israel group late Monday and Tuesday, stem from Obama’s calls in recent days for any peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians to be based on boundaries that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, combined with “mutually agreed swaps” of territory. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (Md.) and other Democrats...

Israeli soldiers patrol along the border fence between the Golan Heights and Syria on May 20 On the website of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs there is a map -- with a message. The map itself is a basic display of how regional borders looked before the Six Day War in 1967. The message is in the distances drawn from those borders to major Israeli cities. For example, it's noted that the distance from what was in 1967 the armistice line with Jordan to the Israeli city of Netanya on the Mediterranean was 9 miles; to Beersheeba, 10 miles; and...

Netanyahu could only dream of such a reception in Israel; Congress' ovation was heard by Obama, the Palestinians, the world at large. The overall importance of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyanhu's speech to a special joint session of the US Congress on Tuesday was not in the substance ­ he did not break any radical new ground ­ but rather in the overwhelmingly warm ovation he received. Netanyahu could only dream of such a reception in Israel. Even his wife, Sarah, received a standing ovation when she entered the hall. The prime minister was applauded some 30 times, many of those...

Hamas and Fatah were united in their reactions to Netanyahu’s speech in Congress, while Israeli reactions, with few exceptions, fell along party lines. Saeb Erekat, a senior member of the Ramallah-Based Palestinian Authority and the senior negotiator during the period of talks with Israel, accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of distorting history. The Israeli leader told Congress that all of Judea and Samaria, including parts he would be willing to surrender for a “true peace,” are part of the ancient Jewish homeland. He also said that Israel’s ancient ties to the land do not allow for charges that Jews are “occupying”...

I am deeply honored by your warm welcome. And I am deeply honored that you have given me the opportunity to address Congress a second time. Mr. Vice President, do you remember the time we were the new kids in town? And I do see a lot of old friends here. And I do see a lot of new friends of Israel here. Democrats and Republicans alike. Israel has no better friend than America. And America has no better friend than Israel. We stand together to defend democracy. We stand together to advance peace. We stand together to fight terrorism....

Bibi: “Israel has no better friend than America, and America has no better friend than Israel…You got bin Laden. Good riddance.” “You don’t need to do nation-building in Israel. We’re already built. You don’t need to build democracy in Israel. We got it. And you don’t need to send troops to Israel. We defend ourselves.” 11:30am – Bibi briefly interrupted by hecklers, handles them beautifully. “I take it at a badge of honor that we have these protests. You can’t have this in Tehran & Tripoli. This is REAL democracy.” Crowd erupts in applause, stands. “In a region where women...

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

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