Israeli officials have voiced outrage at Barack Obama's vision of a Palestinian state based on the borders of the 1967 Middle East war, by declaring that 'Washington does not understand what we face'.

On the day Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. for key talks, the Isreali Prime Minister was said to be 'disappointed' Obama's speech did not address Palestine demands to repatriate millions of Palestinians to Israel.

Netanyahu is set for key talks with President Obama today, where he is expected to call for commitments made by the U.S. in 2004 to be honoured.

Seven years ago President George W Bush said Israel should not be forced to withdraw to the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.

Speaking Friday ahead of Netanyahu's White House meeting with Obama, an Israeli official said,

'There is a sense that Washington does not understand the reality, that Washington does not understand what we face.'

Netanyahu's meeting with Obama is expected to be a tense one after the U.S. president endorsed Palestinian demands for the borders of any future state to be based on 1967 lines.

Tensions were further increased when an Israeli Interior Ministry spokeswoman said plans had been approved for two building projects on land Israel annexed after a 1967 war.
Meanwhile Mr Netanyahu Obama's 1967 Palestinian borders plan, endorsed in a key speech on Middle East policy on Thursday, could leave Israel ‘indefensible’.

Candidates for the Republican presidential nomination were also quick to claim that Mr Obama had undermined the sensitive and delicate negotiations for Middle East peace.

‘The viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of Israel's existence,’ said Mr Netanyahu before flying to the U.S. for scheduled talks with Mr Obama.

Israeli officials seemed taken aback by the language in Obama's speech. Asked if Netnayahu had been forewarned by Washington, one said: ‘No comment.’ But some Israeli reporters accompanying the prime minister predicted a stormy meeting.
A senior member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, Danny Danon, accused Mr Obama of seeking to destroy Israel by adopting the vision of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

‘Netanyahu only has one option - to tell Obama to forget about it,’ Mr Danon told Israeli media.

Potential Republican presidential candidates also led criticism against Mr Obama’s speech.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said Mr Obama ‘threw Israel under the bus’ and handed the Palestinians a victory even before negotiations between the parties could resume.

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty said it ‘is a disaster waiting to happen’. Former senator Rick Santorum called the President's approach ‘dangerous’.

Mr Obama endorsed the Palestinians' demand for their future state to be based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.

In a statement following the speech, Benjamin Netanyahu called the 1967 lines 'indefensible', saying such a withdrawal would jeopardise Israel's security and leave major West Bank settlements outside Israeli borders.

(Source)