There is a reason why the Palestinian Authority reacted so negatively to Prime Minister Netanyahu's comprehensive speech on the Palestinian-Israel conflict.

SAEB EREKAT, SENIOR PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR:

"President Obama, the ball is in your court tonight. You have the choice tonight. You can deal with Netanyahu as a prime minister above the law, close the file of peace tonight and engulf the whole area in the direction of violence, chaos, extremism and bloodletting. The other choice is to make Netanyahu abide by the "road map" plan for peace.

"The peace process has been moving at the speed of a tortoise. Tonight, Netanyahu has flipped it over on its back."

 NABIL ABU RDAINAH, PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS' SPOKESMAN:

"Netanyahu's remarks have sabotaged all initiatives, paralyzed all efforts being made and challenges the Palestinian, Arab and American positions."

The Palestinians understand that Netanyahu is trying to reshape the nature of the debate between Israel and the Palestinians. Gone are the days of unilateral withdrawals, gone are the days of talking without setting Israel's needs clearly on the table, gone are the days when the Arab world sits on the sidelines and washes its hands of the refugee problem

Netanyahu has taken seriously President Obama's call for speaking the truth. Netanyahu's truth is Israel's reality.

While headlines about the speech declare that Netanyahu endorsed a demilitarized Palestinian state his speech went far beyond this point. Netanyahu declared that Jerusalem will remain united under the State of Israel which will continue to guarantee that it will be free and open to all people.

Netanyahu also made it clear that Israel is not a gift to the Jewish people because of the Holocaust. He told the world that Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people for 3500 years and that is why the State of Israel exists today. Rarely do we hear such Zionist statements from Israeli officials.

In his speech Netanyahu reminded the world that Israel has made concessions to its enemies time and again. And it has received terrorism in return. Israel will no longer go down that path.

 Israel is willing and anxious to come to an agreement with its neighbors but it will not make the mistakes of the past that led to the deaths of innocents on both sides. Netanyahu offered the Palestinians a chance to earn a demilitarized state. He offered to invest in joint economic projects. He offered to live in peace.

But for this to happen, Netanyahu said there must be a change of heart on the other side. For one, he took the right of return issue off the table. He said what everybody knows this was always a deal breaker and it permitted Arab states and the United Nations to ignore their responsibility for the refugee problem. For 61 years, the Arab States and the United Nations have keep the refugee problem alive by not doing anything about it. Netanyahu said they can not hide behind the refugees anymore. They are responsible for solving a problem they have allowed to foster.

Netanyahu addressed another issue that has been swept under the carpet until now. For any settlement to be reached the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish State. Israel is being pressured to recognize a Palestinian State but the Palestinian have refused to recognize a Jewish State. Less than a month ago, the Palestinian leader Abbas refused to say he accepts Israel as a Jewish State. With Netanyahu at the helm this will not fly.

President Obama has called the speech a good first step. We hope he understands that Netanyahu has many non-negotiable demands in this speech. It's up to Obama to convince the Muslim street he addressed in Cairo to address these legitimate demands. He can start by getting the Palestinians and Saudis to recognize the Jewish State of Israel after 61 years of its existence.

Along with criticism from the Palestinians, Netanyahu's speech has been the subject of criticism from our friend Daniel Pipes. Daniel makes some important observations that we do not ascribe to but they are worthy of consideration.

Meanwhile, Professor Gerald Steinberg is more complimentary to the Prime Minister.