Does President Obama Really Want To Put Us In This Position?

Despite offering clarification and then doubling down on his stance for Israel’s return to its 1967 borders, President Obama has so far been unable to gain international allies. Canada’s conservative Prime Minister, Steven Harper, will not back President Obama’s position.

“What the government of Canada supports is basically a two-state solution that is negotiated,” a senior federal official said. “If it’s border, if it’s others issues, it has to be negotiated, it cannot be unilateral action.”

Pressed by reporters, federal officials said both the Israelis and the Palestinians have to decide on their bottom lines, which the Israelis have said will not include a return to the 1967 border.

“If the two parties are of the view that this is a starting point, that is fine for them,” said the federal official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

That has not discouraged President Obama from seeking Britain’s backing. I noted last month that we could expect to see President Obama declare his position for an independent Palestinian state. It was all about timing because Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been lobbying hard on his end for a Palestinian state and is expecting to receive a UN endorsement.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said during a visit in Tunisia that the Palestinian Authority is ready to establish a state. “We are counting on the words of US President Barack Obama who said his vision is to see a Palestinian state this coming September according to a deadline set by the Quartet.”

Abbas added that 130 countries have already recognized a Palestinian state on 1967 borders and that this number could well reach 140 or 150. He stated that Western European countries have also accepted the fact that a Palestinian state will be established sooner or later, despite not having recognized it yet.

So the only allies the President has seemed to have gained by taking a unilateral position on Israel are the Palestinians, the Left, tenured faculty at most American universities, and the entire Muslim world. I don’t know about you, but America may be on the wrong side of this one if those are the only friends we can find.