Obama forcefully defends his Mideast peace call

Speaking in Washington to a generally welcoming crowd of Israel\'s hardline supporters, Obama said delays in moving toward a two-state solution would undermine Israel\'s security.

"There was nothing particularly original in my proposal," Obama told an estimated 10,000 delegations to the powerful pro-Israel lobby, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee.

"This basic framework for negotiations has long been the basis for discussions among the parties, including previous US administrations.

In a speech Thursday, Obama called on Israel to accept a return to territorial lines in place before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, with mutual land swaps with Palestinians to frame a secure peace.

In a dramatic Oval Office appearance on Friday, Netanyahu emphatically rejected the call to return to the pre-1967 lines, saying it would make Israel indefensible and isolate Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

But Obama said his position has "been misrepresented several times," adding that mutually agreed swaps means that Israel would not be returning to the pre-1967 lines.

"If there\'s a controversy, then, it\'s not based in substance," Obama said.

"What I did on Thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately. I have done so because we cannot afford to wait another decade, or another two decades, or another three decades, to achieve peace," he said.

"The world is moving too fast. The extraordinary challenges facing Israel would only grow. Delay will undermine Israel\'s security and the peace that the Israeli people deserve," the president said.

His remarks on the controversy -- coming on the eve of Netanyahu\'s own speech to AIPAC -- received loud applause from the thousands of delegates who drowned out a few boos.

Analysts said Obama became the first president to specifically state that the 1967 borders should be the basis for peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, shut down over a settlements row last year.

US officials had, however, privately been pushing the position for a while and the principle was close to the shape of a failed deal advanced by former president Bill Clinton at Camp David in 2000.

Netanyahu on Saturday tried to play down a row with President Barack Obama, saying the rift between the leaders had been exaggerated.

Obama also drew loud applause when he called on Hamas, the Palestinian group to recognize Israel\'s right to exist and to reject violence.

Also well received was his promise to fight any efforts to isolate Israel at the United Nations, repeating that Palestinian efforts to win recognition as an independent state at the UN will fail.

He also sought to reassure Israel\'s supporter of general US support for Israel\'s security, a traditional line from US presidents.

"Even while we may at times disagree, as friends sometimes will, the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable, and the commitment of the United States to the security of Israel is ironclad," Obama said to loud applause.

He also said Washington is going "beyond" regular military assistance to the Jewish state in order to help "maintain Israel\'s qualitative military edge."

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