Speaking at Bar Ilan University on June 14, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Palestinian leaders that to live in peace with Israel, they would have to make a public declaration recognizing “the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own in this land." Once "they say those words to our people and to their people, then a path will be opened to resolving all the problems between our peoples." Yet, Netanyahu sees no need for any declaration on the part of Israel’s government to recognize any rights of Palestinians.
For the Palestinians' acknowledgement of Israel’s Zionist rebirth to have "practical meaning," Netanyahu wants "a clear understanding that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside Israel's borders." By renouncing their refugees’ and expellees’ right to return to their confiscated homes, Palestinians also agree to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of its territories and settlements or, as Netanyahu defines it, the "historic homeland" of the Jews.
Peace with Israel will also necessitate the "demilitarization" of all remaining Palestinian land. Netanyahu obviously has no qualms projecting a nuclear-armed Israel in total military control of its Palestinian neighbors. The Palestinian Authority, however, “will have to establish the rule of law in Gaza and overcome Hamas." The Palestinian state that Netanyahu envisions would not be allowed to tolerate anti-Zionist organizations, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, while Israelis will be free to continue anti-Arab and anti-Islamic agitation indefinitely.
The prime minister wants the number of Palestinians held to be equal to the number of Jews in historic Palestine. He insists that "Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel." He also foresees the continued expansion of Jewish settlements whose inhabitants he characterizes as "an integral part of our people, a principled, pioneering, and Zionist public." As part of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, the prime minister demands of the neighboring Arab states to acknowledge the legitimacy of Zionism and support the Palestinian people financially.
By implication, Netanyahu intends for Israel to control a maximal land area with a minimal Palestinian population. While his views may be viewed as unrealistic and chauvinistic by most observers outside Israel, he does apparently speak for the majority of conservative Israelis who voted for his coalition government. Netanyahu's speech shows that he is hell-bent on resisting President Obama's hope, as expressed in his Cairo speech, to achieve a fair and mutually acceptable settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The prime minister also strongly rejects Obama's call for a complete halt to Israeli settlement construction.
Although the President and Israel’s present government disagree on crucial issues, Obama has already made a crucial concession that is clearly unacceptable to all Arabs when he asserted that "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided." He also affirmed that for Palestinian refugees "The right of return [to Israel] is something that is not an option in a literal sense."
While Obama opposes the expansion of the Israeli settlements on Palestinian soil, he has yet to speak out against their continued existence. How can the Arabs be expected to agree to the large settlement blocks encircling Jerusalem and dividing the West Bank as permanent Israeli territory in any two-state solution? Last not least, neither Obama nor Netanyahu have mentioned Israel's illegal West Bank wall, as if the Palestinians must accept it as an accomplished fact.
Given the one-sidedly pro-Israeli statements made by numerous American politicians, it sounds hardly credible to Palestinians when the President and Middle East envoy George Mitchell claim that the United States is committed to the "legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own." What "dignity" and "opportunity”, if any, is Netanyahu willing to extend to them? If we Americans really want peace in the Middle East, are we willing to guarantee not only Israel’s statehood and viability but also justice, equality, and full sovereignty to the Palestinians?