Tense Talk

A day before hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) at the White House, President Barack Obama complicated the relationship by calling for the borders of Israel and a Palestinian state to be based upon the 1967 lines (with mutually agreed land swaps). Netanyahu addressed Congress days later and emphasized his desire to seek peace, yet pointed to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ unwillingness to negotiate: “So I say to President Abbas, ‘Tear up your pact with Hamas, sit down and negotiate, make peace with the Jewish state. And if you do, I promise you this: Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian state as a new member of the United Nations. It will be the first to do so.'”