Former Chief of Staff Reiterates US Hypocrisy: No Return to 1967 Borders

Local Editor

Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago and U.S. President Barack Obama's former chief of staff, says Obama views 1967 borders as starting point for negotiations, not end point, in op-ed for the Washington Post.
Emanuel, attempted to ease "Israeli" fears that the U.S. administration expects "Israel" to return to 1967 borders, clarifying that this was never Obama's policy.
Emanuel was referring to a sentence in Obama's Middle East policy speech last month, in which Obama said that "the borders of "Israel" and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states."

Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected this statement publicly at the time, claiming that 1967 borders are 'indefensible'.
Obama has not altered the United States' policy vis-à-vis "Israel", Emanuel said in his op-ed, adding that the concept of a loose basis of 1967 borders with land swaps has been the foundation of any serious American attempt at negotiations since former U.S. President Bill Clinton held talks at Camp David in 2000.

"That statement does not mean a return to 1967 borders," Emanuel said, adding that "no workable solution envisions that. Land swaps offer the flexibility necessary to ensure secure and defensible borders and address the issue of settlements."
Emanuel continued, saying that Obama clarified this further at the AIPAC conference last month when he said "it means that the parties themselves - "Israelis" and Palestinians - will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967."
The Chicago mayor reiterated the United States' commitment to "Israel", as well as its pledge to fight efforts that aim to weaken and delegitimize "Israel".

"The president I know and worked for is deeply committed to the peace and security of a Jewish state of "Israel"," Emanuel wrote, "I have seen him make unprecedented commitments to guarantee the continued qualitative military edge essential to "Israel's" security in a dangerous neighborhood."