Obama Clarifies: Israel Is The Problem Not The Palestinians
President Obama invited a very select group of Jewish leaders to the White House. Like all his events, Obama made sure that his supporters dominated the room. Flanked by staffers Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, Obama overloaded the guest list with left leaning American Jews. Groups like Peace Now, The National Jewish Democrat Council, and J Street, all of whom oppose the the elected government of Benjamin Netanyahu, were included among the typical "major Jewish organizations." Obama made sure that groups supporting the right wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu were a distinct minority.
From a few published reports and other sources, One Jerusalem has pieced together a picture of what took place at this meeting. In short, Obama made it clear that he feels Israel must be pushed to make a deal with the Palestinians - which means that Obama is planning to force Israel to compromise on Jerusalem, settlements, the West Bank, and possibly the right of return. He will not be dissuaded by facts on the ground (more on this later), and he sees a moral equivalency between the plight of the Palestinians and the needs of the State of Israel.
When Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Major Organizations made the case that progress on the Palestinian front comes when there is "no daylight" between the policies of the United States and Israel, Obama responded that despite overwhelming support by President Bush no progress was made. When Hoenlein pointed out that under Bush, Israel took the momentous step of withdrawing from Gaza (One Jerusalem opposed this action) and previously under other friendly Administrations went the extra mile, like adopting The Road Map, Obama refused to let these facts change his mind.
Our friend
Rick Richman does a superb job responding to Obama:
The following would be my summary of the progress over the past eight years -- which Obama apparently ignored in his response to the group:
After the Palestinians rejected an offer of a state at Camp David in 2000, rejected the Clinton Parameters in 2001, and conducted a terror war against Israeli civilians from September 2000-2002, Israel nevertheless agreed in 2003 to the "Performance-Based Roadmap" for the creation of a Palestinian state, despite reservations about the manner in which that plan would actually be implemented.
In 2003 and thereafter, Israel ceased all settlement activity -- as it understood that Phase I Roadmap obligation (no new settlements; no building outside settlement boundaries; no financial incentives for Israelis to move to settlements) -- and believed American officials agreed with its interpretation of that obligation.
In 2004, after the Palestinian Authority failed to meet its own Phase I Roadmap obligation (sustained efforts to dismantle terrorist groups and infrastructure), Israel nevertheless proposed to dismantle every existing settlement in Gaza (not just "outposts"), remove every Israeli soldier, and turn over the entire area to the Palestinian Authority -- in exchange for a written American commitment to defensible borders and retention of the major settlement blocs necessary to insure them.
In 2005, after receiving the American commitment, Israel proceeded to carry out the Gaza disengagement, despite the political and social upheaval within Israel it caused, including the break-up of the ruling party and nationwide demonstrations, and - at State Department insistence - further dismantled four settlements (not just "outposts") in the West Bank as well, to demonstrate the disengagement would be "Gaza First," not "Gaza Last."
In 2006, after the Palestinians elected their premier terrorist group to control their government, Israelis nevertheless re-elected Kadima on a platform of "convergence" (the new name for withdrawal from the West Bank), and would have carried it out but for the attacks by Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah from Lebanon that caused two wars and finally convinced Israelis further withdrawals were insane.
In 2007, despite the Palestinian failure to carry out its Phase I dismantlement obligation, and its categorical rejection of Phase II (a state with provisional sovereignty before Phase III final status negotiations), Israel agreed to proceed immediately to final status negotiations once again under the "Annapolis Process."
Throughout 2008, Israel negotiated with its "peace partner" under the accelerated process, and offered 100 percent of the West Bank (after land swaps) for a state, with concessions on other major issues, all of which were rejected.
During this eight-year period, the Palestinian concessions (aka reciprocal "progress") can be enumerated more briefly: zero.
But Obama reiterated his commitment to forcing Israel to give Palestinians what they want. In other words he does not want to be deterred from his prejudices by the facts.
One Jerusalem has been warning Israel's supporters that the Obama Administration is dead set on using all its power to force Israel to capitulate even if it means dividing Jerusalem and weakening its defenses. We must continue to recruit people in the campaign to defend Israel and Jerusalem. Signing our Jerusalem petition is a sure fire way to stay informed about important news that you will probably not get anywhere else and to learn insider analysis.
As Obama's troubles at home multiply, look for him to show leadership by beating up on Israel. We need to be prepared to fight back.
on 
Two issues here are insane: (1) give up all of Judea and Samaria, and (2) slice up Jerusalem, divide it in half and destroy the territorial sovereignty of a nation that now maintains Jerusalem as a viable and highly functioning city where persons of all religions can come to pray in the manner in which they so choose. First, to take all 150,000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria and relocate them somewhere--Where!!!!???--is never going to happen. If it is going to be anything like that horrid disengagement from Jewish Gaza that left 10,000 Jewish persons without homes, unemployed and still now suffering divorces which had never before occuurred with children losing their religious roots in a previously pious Orthodox Judaism, the onslaught of dispelling and dispersing 150,000 pious Jews in this present case will do no than leave at least 100,000 of these, our fellow Jews, living in the streets with families torn to shreds, unemployment the norm, and a rash of dysfunctional families and divorces like has never before been seen in the Modern State of Israel. The inhumanity of it all is no less than barbaric. Who takes 150,000 people and rips them from their homes, (a) creating a nation-wide catastrophe, and (b) is of such proportions inhumane and ill-conceived as to show contempt for the integrity of human life? No responsible individual could ever anywhere within his or her own mind ever conceive of doing such a thing! Second, Jerusalem is Jerusalem -- it works! For forty plus years it has been a thriving city open to all races, religions, and creeds, and free to worship as they so desire. Jerusalem is at the center of all Jewish worship. Prayers and prayerbooks endlessly refer to Jerusalem and our desire for L-rd G-d HaShem Elohim to restore it as His Holy Dwelling Place, His Sacrosanct City, where the Beit HaMikdash is to be built and become the Third Temple of Jerusalem, of Israel, The Holy Of Holies, The Holy Temple always being the centre of all Prayer, focus and worship within the Jewish religion. The Holy Temple, presently, is part of and beneath The Temple Mount. Major restoration must be done to restore it to the Glory that it has always been and to lead to the building of the third Beit HaMikdash in its place. This City--JERUSALEM--is so sacred to the Jewish Peoples and is and always has been at the center of our devotions that to cut it out of our hearts--in half--would no less than to rip the very Soul and heart out of each and every Jew, within Israel and throughout the Diaspora. And lack of sensitivity to Jerusalem's place within the Jewish collective psyche and soul would show no less than an immense degree of cultural, racial and religious insensitivity, and is something that (1.) should never even be considered, and (2.) can not ever be permitted. Mr. Obama, there is no other culture, religion, or anything that so Prays to and reveres what we in Hebrew call Yerushalayim. The Palestinians only turned toward Israel as we--Israel--made the deserts blossom. It is not their city, nor has ever been. It is the City of one and only One Peoples, Mr. Obama: the Jewish Peoples. We intend to live by what G-d in all of His mercy and in all of His might has so commanded us to do. We implore you: do not seek to disengage and sever Israel once again from who and what we are. We are the Jewish Peoples of Israel with Jerusalem as Its Holy and Divine Capital. Respect us, Mr. Obama; respect us. The Arabs, the Palestinians, and the Muslims all have Mecca and their Holy City to which they make their annual Hajj. Medina is their second Holiest City. The Dome of the Rock most improperly, even by Muslim standards, is built upon the Holy and Sacred Temple Mount and the Second Beit HaMikdash. Mohammad's place is in Mecca, their Holiest of Holiest Sites. YERUSHALAYIM is the Eternal Kingdom of the Jews. Leave it at that. G-d Bless you and and may you now come to recognize the Holiness that the entire City of Jerusalem is for the Entire Jewish Peoples, our strivings and our longings, and our Home. In Peace President Obama, In Peace.