1967

Obama's sole proposal for Middle East Peace is that Israel ought to withdraw to its 1967 borders, before the Six Day War. His proposal completely ignores the UN resolution 242, which provides that Israel have defensible borders.

The borders (cease fire line, actually) which existed at the start of 1967 put Israel at a civil and strategic military disadvantage. Israel's enemies held all the high ground, which they used to pelt Israel with lethal attack even when not in a formal condition of war.

The civil disadvantage resulted from the Arab League's 3 year plan to divert water from the Galilee and Jordan basin, thus depriving Israel of most of its water supply. This would devastate Israeli agriculture and result mass civilian fatalities.

The Arab League called their scheme the Headwater Diversion Plan. Israel stopped the scheme with direct airstrikes on the Plan's dams located in Syria. The League planned massive retaliation for Israel's incursion.

The Arab League massed their militaries on Israel's borders with the stated intention of eradicating the state of Israel. But 3 years of Arab League activity had made Israel watchful. When it was clear the League intended to strike, Israel struck first. This is the 1967 War.

Despite being massively outnumbered, Israel won on all fronts. The military victory led to a political victory. The Arab League members squabbled about who was to blame for their military losses, which led to the eventual effective dissolution of the League.

The main military gain for Israel was the taking of the Golan Heights from Syrian. Until then, Syrians military units used the Heights to rain death on northern Israel settlements. Many of those settlements were entirely within the UN established border for the state of Israel; these attacks were in complete violation of international law.

Probably the most significant gain for Israel in 1967 was the recapture of Jerusalem after nearly 1900 years. The city of gold, light and bronze was once again in Jewish hands.

Obama is asking the sovereign state of Israel to hand over Jerusalem to her enemies "for peace." Obama is showing the same grasp of international peace as he has of American economics. Spread it around a little, Obama.

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The Israeli government already has ceded substantial territories of its 1967 gains to the Palestinians. Those sectors have sunk into poverty and have become unsafe. Everyone ought to recognize ceding more territory to the gangster Hamas government will not buy peace.