Senate Democrats expected to side with Republicans against Obama on Israel border issue

The Hill reports:

Senate Democrats are expected to support a resolution intended as a rebuff to President Obama’s call for basing Middle East peace talks on the 1967 Israeli-Palestinian borders.

It would be a rare rebuke of the president by the upper chamber and a sign that Democrats are worried about the impact of last week’s speech on the U.S.-Israel relationship and pro-Israel constituents.

Democrats in both chambers are scrambling to fix the damage caused when Obama called for the 1967 borders and land swaps as a basis for peace.

Some Democrats have tried to downplay the rift, but Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress say there’s no denying that Obama made a tactical mistake in handling the relationship.

“I wish that the president had not made the speech on Thursday, particularly not made it — I gather — without much consultation” with Israel, said Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.), an Independent who caucuses with Democrats. “So I think it was a tactical mistake.”

Lieberman said he was reassured by the president’s follow-up speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Sunday but thinks additional steps need to be taken.

He is working with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on a resolution that would show broad consensus within Congress that the 1967 Israeli-Palestinian borders are not only “indefensible,” as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, but also contrary to U.S. national security interests.

Draft language of the resolution states “it is contrary to the U.S. policy and national security to have the borders of Israel return to the boundaries of 1949 or 1967.”

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3 thoughts on “Senate Democrats expected to side with Republicans against Obama on Israel border issue”

  1. Norman

    Unless I’m mistaken, Lieberman is married to an Israeli, even does either up front or underneath work in support of the Israelis, which to me, shouldn’t be tolerated if he’s a U.S.Senator, sworn to uphold the laws of the U.S. & the Constitution. He should be registered as a foreign agent.

  2. delia ruhe

    Well, after that performance, barking and clapping like a bunch of trained seals, one can hardly expect that the Democrats would now turn their backs on their AIPAC-owned-and-operated compatriots. The Republicans have sworn to destroy Obama, and now they have the Dems onside to see that the job is done.

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