Bachmann Blasts Arab Spring Movement; Links Obama to Fall of Shah

American history is not the only subject that confuses GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. The routinely revisionist congresswoman from Minnesota still cannot quite get her brain around the pro-democracy Middle East freedom movement, known as the Arab Spring.

Despite dictators being toppled in Tunesia, Egypt and Libya (Iraq, as well, albeit at a questionable cost in American lives and treasure), Bachmann condemned the Arab Spring, blaming President Obama for the popular uprisings, led by essentially enslaved peoples who seek the same freedoms enjoyed in Europe, North America and Israel.

"You want to know why we have an Arab Spring? Barack Obama has laid the table for an Arab Spring by demonstrating weakness from the United States of America," Bachmann said at a fundraiser today. 

"The number one duty of the President is to be the commander-in-chief," she told supporters at Troutman's barbecue joint in Concord, N.C. 

It was not the first time Bachmann butchered the facts about the Arab Spring, but she did meander into new territory when she sought to link ex-President Jimmy Carter's handling of the Islamic uprising in Iran in the late 1970s to Obama's handling of the Arab revolutions, according to MSNBC, which broke the story.

(MSNBC has the video of Bachmann's remarks here).

Bachmann further demonstrated that she has scant understanding of the widely accepted and long-held baseline negotiating point between Israel and the Palestinians -- that talks begin with both sides agreeing to the pre-1967 War border and move toward realistic land swaps from there.   

"We saw him put a lot of daylight between our relationship with our ally Israel  and when he called upon Israel to retreat to its indefensible 1967 borders. Don't think that message wasn't lost on Israel's 26 indefensible neighbors," Bachmann said.

Her comments came a week after Obama was criticized for one of the most pro-Israel addresses to the United Nations by a U.S. President.

On the upside, it is worth noting that Bachmann made the comments in Concord, North Carolina, so it could have been worse -- she could have suggested the American Revolution began there, as she did when she was in New Hampshire, whose capital is Concord.

All of Massachusetts can rejoice.

Palestinian Statehood Application Moves Amid Israeli Settlement Expansion

The symbolic push for Palestinian statehood moved forward today at the United Nations, but just days after Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu delivered his suspect speech for peace he approved settlement expansion that even Israel's only friend shook its head at.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's application was sent to the UN Security Council's  admissions committee today for review. The application will be discussed Friday by all 15 members of the UN Security Council.

Palestinians, meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank and Arab sections of Jerusalem were outraged by Netanyahu's decision to build 1,100 homes in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood that was seized by Israel in 1967.

The Palestinian Authority suggested it was evidence of the insincere call for peace the hawkish right-wing Israeli leader made Frioodat at the UN. 

The Israeli government ignored the complaints.

"Gilo is not a settlement nor an outpost. It is a neighborhood in the very heart of Jerusalem about five minutes from the centre of town," Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was an unhelpful move to expand the Jewish settlements. The U.S. has emerged as Isreal's only real friend in the effort to block the move for Palestinain statehood.

UN Security Council Meets On Palestine, But No Vote For At Least Weeks

Do not be fooled by today's closed-door meeting at the United Nation's Security Council: It will be a long slog before any votes or vetoes are cast in the Palestinian statehood issue.

The UN Security Council will not set up a committee to review Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's application for statehood (formally presented last Friday) until then end of this week, at the earliest.

So while the UN Security Council is meeting privately to discuss the future of Palestine, we are talking weeks, perhaps months, before a vote is taken, the CBC reports.

In the meantime, Obama administration is working hard behind the scenes to get UN Security Council members to oppose statehood in effort to avoid its promised veto that would alienate its Arab and Muslim allies, Fox News reports.

The Palestinians need nine votes on the UN Security Council to win statehood, but they only have six for sure — China, Russia, Brazil, Lebanon, India and South Africa -- even without the veto. China formally jumped on board today.

Palestine obviously will not be granted statehood, given the promised U.S. veto, but some Israelis do not think that their leader has helped sell the case that peace talks are the path to freedom for the Palestinians.  

One Haaretz writer even called Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly a speech of lies.

And in other distantly related news, AlJazeera is trying to shake its reputation as an anti-Western news agency, so it will not help its case that one of its ex-reporters admitted he was an alleged Hamas operative while on the job, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Arab Spring Sweep: Saudi women; Syrian hacking; Yemeni Back; Libya Strife

It has been a few days since we checked in on the pro-democracy freedom movement in the Middle East, so here is an update of the most recent losses and gains and other news in the Arab Spring:

The lead story is Saudia Arabia's claim that it will extend voting rights to women in local elections in 2015:

News of womens' voting rights came as quite a surprise and believe it was King Abdullah playing preemptive CYA, ABC News blogs.

Some say voting rights for women will not really happen, CNN reports.

The Wall Street Journal says it is great that women will be able to vote, but ponders when they will be able to drive. Women drivers continue to be prosecuted.

Clean and open elections are not part of the anti-democracy government's plan in Bahrain, home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, the Associated Press reports.

Things are getting nasty again in Yemen:

President Ali Abdullah Saleh's return to Yemen, after recovering from burns and other wounds in an assassination attempt on his life three months ago, has re-invigorated his political opponents, enemy tribes and pro-democracy freedom fighters, Reuters reports.

Tribesmen killed one of Saleh's top generals in a bold attack on a government army base, Voice of America reports.

The United States and Gulf Cooperation Council were blindsided by the return of Saleh, whom they had hoped would just retire in Saudi Arabia, The New York Times Reports.

It is as bad as ever in Syria:

Bashir al-Assad's tanks blockade northwestern city Al-Rastan as crackdown continues elsewhere, CNN reports.

Assad's loyalist followers flexed some mischievous brainpower and hacked into as website at Harvard University, the BBC reports.

It might have been payback for anti-Assad hackers who attacked government websites, according to The Washington Times.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeaks to China to join the anti-Assad movement, Agence France Presse reports.

Turkey and the re-emegence of the Ottomans across the Middle East, remains a key to the fall of Assad, The New York Times reports. 

The mainstream media has become bored with the Libyan revolution, but it is far from over:

Residents are fleeing the hometown of Moammar Gadhafi amid food and medicine shortages. Meanwhile, the provisional government declares an end to court that was used by the former dictator to prosecute his enemies, the AP reports.

Like Sirte, the revolutionary army presses on in Bani Walid, the BBC reports.
  
For the latest Afghanistan and Iraq news, please read longtime colleagues Stephanie Gaskell and Rich Sisk at The War Report.

Abbas asks for Palestinian Statehood; Clinton Disses Bibi The Peacenik

First-time listeners of Bibi Netanyahu today would have thought he was a dove carrying an olive branch to his unfortunate Arab brothers.

"Now we’re in the same city, we’re in the same building, so let’s meet here today in the United Nations,” Netanyahu said, in an eye-rolling plea to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to sit down to talks. "With God’s help, we’ll find the common ground of peace."

Predictably, and in concert with an Obama administration that fears it will lose needed Jewish voters next year, Netanyahu appeared before the United Nations General Assembly not as the powerful hawk he has been for an entire career, but rather a somewhat broken isolated leader who is watching his only Muslim allies shake their heads at his failings.

Even former President Bill Clinton is warning the world that Netanyahu is not an honest broker when it comes to peace with the Palestinians. 

For those of us who more than a decade ago covered the Camp David II, Wye River and Sharm El Sheikh peace talks and follow Middle Eastern Affairs for the sheer love of the story and the region, that is not news, but it is timely.

And for The Big Dog, who knows first-hand how Netanyahu does business, the timing is no accident. 

On the eve of Netayahu's bluster-filled at the United Nations, Clinton undermined with random precision the right-wing Israeli leader's attempt to paint himself as a genuine Israeli peacemaker of the ilk of Menachem Begin or Yitzhak Rabin.

"The Israelis always wanted two things that once it turned out they had, it didn't seem so appealing to Mr. Netanyahu. They wanted to believe they had a partner for peace in a Palestinian government, and there's no question -- and the Netanyahu government has said -- that this is the finest Palestinian government they've ever had in the West Bank," Clinton said, according to Foreign Policy magazine's blogger, Josh Rogin.

"[Palestinian leaders] have explicity said on more than one occasion that if [Netanyahu] put up the deal that was offered to them before -- my deal -- that they would take it," Clinton said of the 2000 Camp David II accord rejected by Yasser Arafat.

Abbas, meanwhile, presented his letter today to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, requesting statehood for Palestine. 

"At a time when the Arab peoples affirm their quest for democracy – the Arab Spring – the time has come for the Palestinian Spring, the time for independence," Abbas told the UN General Assembly, much of which gave the Palestinian leader a standing ovation.

Here is a full transcript of Netanyahu's remarks.

Here is a full transcript of Abbas's remarks. 

Israeli Cops Prep for Violence; Israeli Intellectuals Appeal for Palestinian State

Updated 11:30 a.m. edt Fiday

Israeli police beefed up security today in Jerusalem and banned Palestinian men under the age of 50 from praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, taking security precautions amid at least one deadly confrontation as the Palestinians ask for statehood from the United Nations.

Women of any age are still allowed to pray at the historic mosque, according to the WAFA Palestinian news agency.

Israeli security forces shot and killed a Palestinian in the West Bank during a confrontation between Palestinians and Jewish settlers in the village of Qusra, a local Palestinian official said, according to Haaretz.

There were also confrontations in Arab East Jerusalem with rock-hurling Palestinians, the newspaper reported.

end update
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Israeli security forces are breaking out the "skunk" crowd-control spray amid fears of violence in Jerusalem and elsewhere ahead of tomorrow's anticipated bid for statehood at the United Nations by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Skunk, a smelly spray that can leave its victims wishing they were instead hit by the more frequently utilized Israeli rubber bullets, is among an array of crowd-control weapons security forces will be armed with in the occupied West Bank territory and along the borders with Palestine.

Security was heightened today in Jerusalem ahead of tomorrow's anticipated spectacle at the UN General Assembly, according to the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.

Dozens of Israeli artists and intellectuals used symbolic Independence Hall in Tel Aviv to show support today for Palestinian statehood. The protesters demonstrated outside the same building where the late socialist former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proclaimed independence for the state of Israel on May 14, 1948.

It is all part of a dramatic, but so far peaceful build-up to the events tomorrow at the UN, which will be more along the lines of litigating a case, as Abbas and Isreali Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu address the world body.

But, as the Talk Radio News Service reports, an actual vote has to move through a time-consuming bureaucratic process. So it could be weeks before a vote is taken.   

"A vote here is merely a statement on a piece of paper. It doesn't change anything on the ground for the Palestinian people the day after," a panicked-sounding Ambassador Susan Rice told NPR's of "All Things Considered" today.

Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, told the high-brow radio network a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood "is not just a neutral, symbolic action. In our view it is unwise and counterproductive." 

"If it accelerated the negotiations, we would say yes," Rice said. "The reality is quite the opposite. The process that must occur will be that much more complicated in the wake of this kind of one-sided action."

Obama's Prepared Remarks on Palestine: 'Peace Depends Upon Compromise'

President Obama's prepared remarks opposing the unilateral creation of a Palestinian state excerpted from his address this morning before United Nations General Assembly:
 

"Now I know that for many in this hall, one issue stands as a test for these principles – and for American foreign policy: the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.
 
"One year ago, I stood at this podium and called for an independent Palestine. I believed then – and I believe now – that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own. But what I also said is that genuine peace can only be realized between Israelis and Palestinians themselves. One year later, despite extensive efforts by America and others, the parties have not bridged their differences. Faced with this stalemate, I put forward a new basis for negotiations in May. That basis is clear, and well known to all of us here. Israelis must know that any agreement provides assurances for their security. Palestinians deserve to know the territorial basis of their state.
 
"I know that many are frustrated by the lack of progress. So am I. But the question isn’t the goal we seek – the question is how to reach it. And I am convinced that there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades. Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN – if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now. Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians who must live side by side. Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians – not us – who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security; on refugees and Jerusalem.
 
"Peace depends upon compromise among peoples who must live together long after our speeches are over, and our votes have been counted. That is the lesson of Northern Ireland, where ancient antagonists bridged their differences. That is the lesson of Sudan, where a negotiated settlement led to an independent state. And that is the path to a Palestinian state. 
 
"We seek a future where Palestinians live in a sovereign state of their own, with no limit to what they can achieve. There is no question that the Palestinians have seen that vision delayed for too long. And it is precisely because we believe so strongly in the aspirations of the Palestinian people that America has invested so much time and effort in the building of a Palestinian state, and the negotiations that can achieve one.
 
"America’s commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable, and our friendship with Israel is deep and enduring. And so we believe that any lasting peace must acknowledge the very real security concerns that Israel faces every single day. Let’s be honest: Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it. Israel’s citizens have been killed by rockets fired at their houses and suicide bombs on their buses. Israel’s children come of age knowing that throughout the region, other children are taught to hate them. Israel, a small country of less than eight million people, looks out at a world where leaders of much larger nations threaten to wipe it off of the map. The Jewish people carry the burden of centuries of exile, persecution, and the fresh memory of knowing that six million people were killed simply because of who they were.
 
"These facts cannot be denied. The Jewish people have forged a successful state in their historic homeland. Israel deserves recognition. It deserves normal relations with its neighbors. And friends of the Palestinians do them no favors by ignoring this truth, just as friends of Israel must recognize the need to pursue a two state solution with a secure Israel next to an independent Palestine.
 
"That truth – that each side has legitimate aspirations – is what makes peace so hard. And the deadlock will only be broken when each side learns to stand in each other’s shoes. That’s what we should be encouraging. This body – founded, as it was, out of the ashes of war and genocide; dedicated, as it is, to the dignity of every person – must recognize the reality that is lived by both the Palestinians and the Israelis.  The measure of our actions must always be whether they advance the right of Israeli and Palestinian children to live in peace and security, with dignity and opportunity. We will only succeed in that effort if we can encourage the parties to sit down together, to listen to each other, and to understand each other’s hopes and fears. That is the project to which America is committed. And that is what the United Nations should be focused on in the weeks and months to come.
 
"Now, even as we confront these challenges of conflict and revolution, we must also recognize once more that peace is not just the absence of war. True peace depends upon creating the opportunity that makes life worth living. And to do that, we must confront the common enemies of human beings: nuclear weapons and poverty; ignorance and disease. These forces corrode the possibility of lasting peace, and together we are called upon to confront them."

Abbas Gathers Support for Statehood; Perry Panders to Neocons

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is meeting today with international leaders at the United Nations, drumming up support for his bid to get the world body to recognize the state of Palestine.

The controversial move is further isolating Israel at the UN and putting the U.S. in a tough spot, since it supports the pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring, but the Obama administration will veto any effort at the UN Security Council to unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood.

"We hope the United States will revise its position and be on the side of the majority of nations or countries who want to support the Palestinian right to have self determination and independence," Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said at an impromptu press conference after meeting with Venezuela's foreign minister.

Abbas is angered by two decades of talks that have failed to reach a deal leading to Palestinian statehood, especially amid what he believes is further stalling tactics by Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

The Palestinian leader is meeting today with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

In an 11th-hour plea, Netanyahu now says he is ready to get back to serious negotiations to try to head off a vote on statehood, as early as Friday, when Abbas addresses the UN General Assembly.

Netanyahu also plans to address the UN on Friday.

Conservative GOP presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is seeking to take advantage of the international tensions, meeting with Jewish and Israeli leaders to blame Obama for the Palestinians move to get statehood.

"Simply put, we would not be here today at the precipice of such a dangerous move if the Obama Policy in the Middle East wasn’t naïve, arrogant, misguided and dangerous," Perry said in prepared remarks released ahead of his speech today.

Despite Obama's firm position that his Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice will veto Palestinian statehood at the UN Security Council, Perry blasted the President for his even-handed treatment of the Israelis and Palestinians.

"It must be said, first, that Israel is our oldest and strongest democratic ally in the Middle East and has been for more than 60 years," Perry said. "The Obama Policy of moral equivalency, which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a dangerous insult."

Perry, who has not addressed foreign policy matters very much on campaign trail, was dismissed by detractors as pandering to neo-conservative Republicans rather than adding anything meaningful to the dialogue.

Palestinian Authority Officially Launches Bid For UN to Grant Statehood

Updated at 6 p.m. edt

The Obama administration reaffirmed today it would veto a resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood if such a proposal reaches the United Nations Security Council later this month.

"The U.S. will veto," said State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland. "I think the President's been clear all along that he opposes this, and has also made clear that the U.S. would oppose such a move firmly in the U.N."

The position inside the Obama administration is that statehood would not change the relationship between Israel and Palestine or the conditions for the Palestinian people, but it could raise already toxic tensions in the Middle East. 

"As we've said a number of times, the day after any action in the U.N., you haven't changed the fundamental situation. And what we are seeking to do is to get to a place where we can have two states living side by side in peace and security. An action in New York is not going to achieve that objective," Nuland said.

"The concern here is that you inflame the situation; you make it harder to get back to talks. It would be far better to get back to talks than to end up in a situation in New York that makes tensions in the region higher," she added.

end update
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The Arab Spring just became very complicated as the Palestinian Authority officially asked United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to move towards recognizing the state of Palestine when the UN General Assembly convenes Sept. 21.

In a letter delivered today to the Ban's Ramallah office, the PA asked him to lend his "moral voice in support of the Palestinian people," according to the Associated Press.

"Families of the tens of thousands of victims of Israeli occupation, including those martyred, wounded and imprisoned, and countless others who were expelled from their homes or lost their homes and their property, hope that you will exert all possible efforts toward the achievement of the Palestinian people's just demands," the letter states.

The PA is seeking a state within the borders prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

U.S. and European leaders have tried unsuccessfully to persuade PA President Mahmoud Abbas to abandon the effort, but the Palestinian leader has complained there is no hope for meaningful final status negotiations as long as Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu continues to stall and allow the expansion of Jewish settlements in thee West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem.

Israel and the PA have not had formal talks since 2008.

The U.S. may find itself in the position of having to veto a resolution in the UN Security Council to block outright statehood.

"We’ll go to the Security Council despite expectations of the US veto," Palestinian Democratic Union Secretary-General Kamal said according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

There is a way around the UN Security Council for the PA by going directly to the UN General Assembly. The PA can become a "non-member state" if it gets 129 of 193 votes in the UN General Assembly, giving it the same status as The Vatican.

Israel has lobbied dozens of UN members to oppose the effort, but it is widely held that the PA is in a position to get the two-thirds support from the UN General Assembly for the upgrade from its current status as "entity."

South Africa has pledged to win unanimous support on the African continent for Palestinian statehood. Permanent UN Security Council member China has also endorsed the Palestinian plan.

The U.S. and Israel have threatened economic sanctions against the PA, but that move would be potentially detrimental to Washington, which has greatly improved its image in the Middle East with its support for the Pan-Arab pro-democracy movement sweeping the region.

There is still time to avoid the showdown when the world body gathers in New York City later this month, but both sides will likely have to compromise to make that happen.

As Markets Tank Israeli Protesters Resemble Arab Spring Not Tea Party

The Tel Aviv stock marked crashed and trading was halted today in reaction to the contentious politically driven decision by Standard & Poor's to lower the U.S. debt rating, but the protesters on the streets were not an Israeli-style Tea Party.

In a social justice movement that began as a tiny tent city meant to show the out-of-control cost of housing, more than 300,000 Israelis filled the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere to protest growing economic disparity between the wealthy and middle class citizens of the Jewish state.

The protesters turned their scorn on right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the Tel Aviv stock market plummeted by more than 6% overnight on news the S&P had downgraded the U.S. debt rating. The Israeli market closed automatically when stocks tanked.

The stock market in Dubai also crashed, while the Saudi Arabian trading barely rebounded after a severe decline yesterday. Analysts blamed it all on the S&P action.

Investors are now bracing for declines overnight tonight in the Asian and 
European markets and many fear even more gloom and doom when the U.S. markets open tomorrow morning.

The middle-class uprising in Israel appears to have more in common with the Middle Eastern pro-democracy movement known as the Arab Spring rather than the right-wing Tea Party hysteria that S&P blames for lowering the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+.

The Guardian of London described it this way: "Despite Israel's relatively healthy economic growth and low unemployment, wage disparities are big, wealth and corporate power are highly concentrated, food prices have increased almost 13% since 2005 and many people spend 50% of their incomes on rent or mortgages."

A sign carried by one protester yesterday written in Hebrew and Arabic said, "Egypt is here."

It should come as no shock that a social justice movement would take root in Israel, since the Jewish state was founded as a European-style socialist market democracy.

The founding father of Israel, the intellectual revolutionary David Ben-Gurion, was expelled from Palestine by the British colonial overlords in 1915 for his socialist activities. He later tempered his personal politics, but never lost touch with his socialist roots.

"Without Hebrew labor there is no way to absorb the Jewish masses. Without Hebrew labor, there will be no Jewish economy; without Hebrew labor, there will be no [Jewish] homeland. And anyone who does anything counter to the principle of Hebrew labor harms the most precious asset we have for fulfilling Zionism," Ben-Gurion said circa 1920, according to journalist and author Tom Segev in his book, "One Palestine Complete."

The Israeli demonstrators promise a million-person march next month, if not sooner given the economic conditions. 

Reviews Mixed Over Obama's AIPAC Address

Updated 11:45 p.m. EDT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ratcheted down the rhetoric and delivered a speech tonight to AIPAC, highlighting the U.S.-Israeli relationship and praising President Obama as a friend of Israel.

"Israel is America's indispensable ally," Netanyahu told the powerful pro-Israel lobby.

He set the tone for his address by taking a moment at the start to recognize the deadly tragedy in Joplin, Mo., where at least 116 people were killed yesterday by a most or tornado.

Netanyahu then went on to praise Obama as a true friend of Israel.

In the only moment that harkened back to tense relations between Netanyahu and Obama came when the prime minister (who indicated he will have more to say when he addresses Congress tomorrow) repeated to the crowd in Washington what he told Obama on Friday in reaction to the U.S. leader's acknowledgment that peace talks begin with the pre-1967 borders as the starting point:

"Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 lines,” Netanyahu told thousands of supporters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Netanyahu was booed and heckled along the way, but the demonstrators were escorted out to cheers from the crowd.

end update
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So did President Obama placate concerns by the conservative wing of the Israeli lobby with the argument yesterday that he said nothing new when he stated out loud that the pre-1967 borders should be the starting point of the Middle East peace talks?

Some notable reaction:

Likud Knesset member Danny Danon slammed Obama's remarks as political, breathlessly calling into question Obama's knowledge of Israeli and Palestinian affairs.

"Obama must understand that Israel will not pay the price for his tuition as he gets caught up to speed on the essence of the conflict. Obama is zigzagging in accordance with whatever position will give him more votes while justifying his Nobel Prize. We must stand strong in order to ensure that this will not be on account of the state of Israel," Danon said, according to Haaretz.

Hamas rejected Obama's AIPAC speech as pandering to the Israeli lobby, according to the Palestinian newspaper, Al-Resalah.

Josh Block, senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and a former AIPAC spokesman, said in an email to Pajamas Media: “It [the speech] was a strong reaffirmation of the US-Israel relationship, and was an important and positive change from his remarks on Thursday. It reflected an important continuity of US policy going back to President Johnson.”

National Jewish Democratic Council President David Harris, who attended the AIPAC speech, said Obama included “a very helpful explanation of the 1967 parameters that some misunderstood and some purposefully distorted."

"This will dramatically help the president with going forward. I was deeply gratified to see the tremendously warm reception he got throughout the speech - it was more than a polite minimum the folks here were expected to do." Harris told Haaretz. "He got clearly genuine support throughout his address. It shows that even in this room in the heart of the pro-Israeli advocacy in the country there was a clear recognition of the fact that the status quo is not sustainable.”

Award-winning journalist Barry Lando, author of "Web of Deceit," writes at Huffington Post that Obama should have announced to AIPAC a real change in policy since Netanyahu has signaled he is not interested in talks aimed at Palestinian statehood. 

Lando writes Obama should have said to AIPAC: "We can no longer afford to confuse supporting the State of Israel with supporting the policies of the leaders who control the Israeli government at a particular time. The interests of the two are not necessarily the same. Particularly when, in my view -- and the view of many Israelis as well -- those policies undermine the long-term security of the Israel."

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said: "[Obama] is saying absolutely nothing new ... He remains, I think, more or less, adamant that it has to be up to the Israelis and the Palestinians, which basically, de facto, means it's up to the Israelis to dictate what exactly their security requirements are for any contours of a Palestinian solution," Al Jazeera reported.

The ISRAI website has a summary here of related editorials in the Jewish press.

Tony Karon, blogging at Time, painted Netanyahu's stonewalling as a much larger problem than Obama's border statement, which has long been held as the de facto starting point for final status talks.

"Netanyahu has fashioned his entire political career out of saying no to the peace plans of others - no to Rabin's Oslo Accords; no, even, to Sharon's pullout from Gaza; no to Obama's call for a solution based on 1967 borders," Karon wrote.

Ex-GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough, star of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, defended Netanyahu over the U.S. President, accusing Obama of ignorance for failing to understand the "existential threat that Israelis face."

"I think the President views Israel in a way different than most Presidents in the past," Scarborough said this morning. "I think the President is firmly committed to Middle East peace at all price -- what he defines as Middle East peace -- and I think he's less concerned about Israel's security than other Presidents in the past, Democrat and Republican alike."

Obama Plays to Crowd at AIPAC Policy Conference

President Obama sought to comfort the concerned Israeli lobby today, telling AIPAC members that his position on the 1967 borders was not groundbreaking and represents a starting point in negotiations leading to the future state of Palestine.

"If there is a controversy, then, it’s not based in substance," Obama said speaking of his policy address a few days ago on the the Middle East. "What I did on Thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately."

Obama avoided commenting on his prickly relationship with right wing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, but he candidly warned that sweeping movements throughout Arabia and demographic realities on the ground in Israel.

"The world is moving too fast. The extraordinary challenges facing Israel would only grow. Delay will undermine Israel’s security and the peace that the Israeli people deserve," cautioned Obama, after he  reaffirmed the United States' strong relationship with Israel and publicly recognized the security needs of the Jewish state.

"I believe that the current situation in the Middle East does not allow for procrastination,"  he said.

A YouTube video of the President's speech to AIPAC:

Bibi, Baby, Meant to Call You, But Lost Your Number...

President Obama's speech on Middle East policy is the latest textbook case of where a simple declarative statement meets diplomatic nuance, and the end result is all of Embassy Row starts crowing like school kids playing I've got a secret.

Except it isn't a secret, in this case. It's just a breathless Foggy Bottom moment.

History was made, some contend, when Obama said out loud yesterday what has been a given in Middle East peace negotiations dating back to the Camp David Accords:

"The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states," Obama said during his Mideast policy speech at the State Department.

"The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state," Obama added (Click here for the complete text of President Obama's speech).

For the nonplussed, at best the news here is an American President finally said out loud what everyone already understood to be the de facto basis for negotiation: The starting point was the pre-1967 borders.

The news today from The New York Times that Obama does not consider Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be a serious peacemaker is also not much of a secret.  Netanyahu lost credibility early in the peace process, when he blindsided then-President Clinton at the Wye River peace talks when he unexpectedly demanded the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. It was a stunt that forever painted Netanyahu as a hurdle to a peace deal.

Netanyahu, who meets today with Obama in Washington, was none too pleased by Obama's speech. He tried until the last minute to lobby Obama to stay away from the 1967 border issue, but his rants went unheard.

"Israel appreciates President Obama’s commitment to peace. Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state," the Israeli leader's office said in a statement after Obama delivered his speech.

"That is why Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress. Among other things, those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines," the Israeli government's statement added.

Netanyahu's right wing allies in the Knesset were less diplomatic.

"Barack Hussein Obama adopted the staged plan for Israel's destruction of Yasser Arafat, and he is trying to force it on our prime minister," said Likud member Danny Danon. "All that was new in the speech was that he called for Israel to return to 1967 borders without solving the crisis. Netanyahu has only one option: To tell Obama forget about it."  

But Haaretz editor-at-large Aluf Benn  writes that Netanyahu is the big winner on the eve of his meetings in Washington. "In return for his call for the establishment of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, without defining the size of these lands, Obama accepted Netanyahu's demands for strict security arrangements and a gradual, continuous withdrawal from the West Bank," Benn wrote.

Nonetheless, the speech advanced U.S. policy toward the Middle East peace process, as Netanyahu's prickly response demonstrated, Laura Rozen writes at Yahoo!

The Muslim Brotherhood, however, did not think the speech moved the ball forward.

"A disappointing speech. Nothing new. American strategy remains as is. American cover for dictatorial presidents, in Syria, Yemen, Bahrain remains as is," said Essam El-Erian, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. "Perhaps the sharpest tone was towards Libya. American promises are just promises. There is no decisive decision to immediately withdraw from Iraq or Afghanistan. Threatening Iran remains the same."

Stateside, Republicans predictably jumped on the Bibi bandwagon, slamming Obama for not favoring Israel over the Palestinians in the peace process.

"President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus," ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wrote in a statement. "He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace. He has also violated a first principle of American foreign policy, which is to stand firm by your friends."

White House: Hamas Must Mend Its Ways

The White House is being very cautious for now on the news today that the Palestinian political organizations Fatah and Hamas are reconciling, opening up the opportunity for a unified Palestinian leadership.

The deal clears the way for a new round of soon-to-be-announced Palestinian elections.

“We have seen the press reports and are seeking more information. As we have said before, the United States supports Palestinian reconciliation on terms which promote the cause of peace. Hamas, however, is a terrorist organization which targets civilians," said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor.

"To play a constructive role in achieving peace, any Palestinian government must accept the Quartet principles and renounce violence, abide by past agreements, and recognize Israel’s right to exist,” Vietor added.

There is reason for hope: Fatah is the political party founded by the late Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat -- once labeled a terrorist and then hailed as a peacemaker with Israel. There is no reason Hamas too cannot amend its ways and recognize Israel as the legitimate democracy it is and potential economic partner it can be.

Israeli hardline leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, slammed the Palestinian reconciliation accord even before it was announced.

“The Palestinian Authority has to choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a televised address. “Peace with both of them is impossible, because Hamas aspires to destroy the state of Israel and says so openly.”

Israel No Longer Just a Spectator

After a deadly bomb blast ripped apart a bus in Jerusalem, pro-Israel groups snapped into action today, urging their supporters to lobby Congress to maintain its support for its ally in the tumultuous Middle East.

Until now Israel has played the role of cautious observer as the Pan-Arab freedom movement began in Tunisia, toppled their ally Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and has now swept throughout Arab kingdoms and dictatorships. From conversations with Israelis, the changes all around them more often trigger fear of the unknown, rather than euphoria over the potential for democratic reforms on the Arab street.

"Historically, when the peace process stalls, terrorists are quick to fill the vacuum. Some Arab governments like Syria may also be inciting violence against Israel to distract attention away from their own corruption and unpopularity," Jennifer Lazlo Mizrahi wrote to supporters of her Washington-based organization, The Israel Project.

Mizrahi sent around pro-Israel speaking points to her group's email list, asking backers to write to their members of Congress to urge them to support the Jewish state.

But one Jewish lobbying group that advocates for peace on the Middle East, J-Street, may have a hard time selling its liberalk line in Israel, a blogger at The Boston Globe notes.

President Obama condemned the attack and offered condolences.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the bombing in Jerusalem today, as well as the rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in recent days. Together with the American people, I offer my deepest condolences for those injured or killed," Obama said. "There is never any possible justification for terrorism. The United States calls on the groups responsible to end these attacks at once and we underscore that Israel, like all nations, has a right to self-defense."

Obama also acknowledged the Palestinian victims of Israel's retaliatory attacks.

"We also express our deepest condolences for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza yesterday. We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to do everything in their power to prevent further violence and civilian casualties," the President said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with his top security advisers when the explosion ripped through the bus.

The bombing came "just hours after the southern Israeli city of Beersheva was hit by two Katyusha missiles from Palestinian militants in Gaza – the first such attack since the Gaza war ended two years ago," The Christian Science Monitor reported.

Laura Rozen, Yahoo's newly acquired Middle East maven, notes that it has been about four years since a bomb struck terror on Israeli territory.