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What Happened to "Defensible Borders"?

(Commentary) Rick Richman - In response to the Israeli settlement freeze, Secretary of State Clinton issued a statement outlining U.S. policy on Nov. 25: "We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements." In his address to AIPAC in 2008, Barack Obama stated that "any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders." The absence of any reference to "defensible borders" in Secretary Clinton's statement is thus both conspicuous and troubling, particularly because the administration has repeatedly refused to answer whether it considers itself bound by the 2004 Bush letter reassuring Israel of the "steadfast commitment" of the U.S. to defensible borders. Even Clinton's reference to "secure and recognized" borders is expressed simply as an Israeli "goal" rather than as a U.S. commitment. The Palestinians have already rejected offers of a state (after land swaps) on 92% of the West Bank (at Camp David), 97% (in the Clinton Parameters), and 100% (in Olmert's Annapolis Process offer). The borders they have in mind are not defensible ones, and the Obama administration appears to have deleted "defensible borders" as one of the guarantees of the process.
2009-12-30 08:42:59
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