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APN Applauds Obama's AIPAC Speech

ObamaSpeech186x140.jpgAmericans for Peace Now applauds President Obama's courageous speech at AIPAC's policy conference in Washington today.

"President Obama again demonstrated that he is a staunch friend of Israel, deeply concerned about Israel's future as a democracy and a secure Jewish state," said APN's President and CEO Debra DeLee. "The President enumerated, to great applause, the many concrete steps that his administration took to bolster Israel's security and its standing worldwide."


DeLee Said: "The President did not back off from the vision for Israeli-Palestinian peace that he began to lay out last Thursday. President Obama re-affirmed his position that a future peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians must provide for Israel's security and for a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. Any agreement must therefore be based on the pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed upon land swaps. This was much-needed straight-talk from the President. He offered a reasonable, realistic approach, which - as the President indicated - has been the template of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for more than a decade, and is broadly accepted as the basis for future peace. The President correctly criticized those who attempted to discredit his commitment to Israel and to peace by misrepresenting his vision of the future borders between Israel and Palestine.

"It takes real leadership, resolve and conviction to stand before a group that supports the policy of the Israeli government, and talk candidly about disagreements with Israel's prime minister. The president boldly laid out to this crowd the painful facts: The situation in the Middle East does not allow for procrastination; Israel needs peace now.

"We look forward to President Obama manifesting his leadership on Israeli-Palestinian peace through actions that bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the negotiating table and produce a lasting peace accord."