President Obama at AIPAC

Before the adults take the stage, let's hear from Karl Rove, who criticized President Obama for using the "language of the Left" in characterizing Israel as "occupying the West Bank" and using the language of "those who hate Israel."

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly countered with this quote from Ariel Sharon, who said in 2003,"You can not like the word, but what is happening is an occupation--to hold 3.5 million Palestinians under occupation."

Newt Gingrich called President Obama's comments on Thursday "disasterous", saying that God never wanted Israel divided.

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch said he might have to support a pro-Israel Republican if there is one who doesn't adopt austerity economics.

The head of the Zionist Organizations of America demanded that AIPAC rescind the invitation to the President to speak today.

Andrea Mitchell is picking up on the distaste Americans felt about Bibi Netanyahu "lecturing the President like a schoolboy."

People should be reminded that it's not a great idea to be scheduled to speak after President Obama. Bibi Netanyahu will have to wait until tomorrow. I wouldn't like to bet that he will be better received than President Obama was today at AIPAC.

President Obama gave a strong, eloquent defense of his position on Israel and the urgent need to advance the peace process. It was one of his most coherent, lengthy addresses in a while since he only had to focus on a single issue. Despite all the critics and the manufactured tension, the AIPAC audience frequently interrupted the speech with strong applause. The President did not back away from his statements concerning the 1967 borders but elaborated on its meaning and how this was the template for negotiations since the Clinton Administration.

President Obama built the speech by first outlining the strategic importance of Israel to the United States and then to our moral commitment to the state of Israel and the common values that bind both nations. This was giving the audience the red meat.

President Obama reiterated America's commitment to Israel's security and our commitment to the survival of Israel as a strong,secure homeland of the Jewish people. And here he inserted specific steps the Administration has done, which his critics have conveniently or deliberately ignored. He has increased the cooperation between the two militaries--the U.S. and Isreal--and provided Israel with our most advance technologies. He increased the foreign military financing to record levels. And he mentioned how the United States and Israel developed the Iron Dome anti-rocket system that has already thwarted missile attacks on Israel. You might remember this from the whole Star Wars flap when neo-cons claimed Obama had abandoned missile defense systems both for Israel and Europe. Which of course he didn't. He pledged that the United States would always help Israel maintain its qualitative edge in military technology.

He outlined how the Administration has created the strongest sanctions against Iran and how he was absolutely committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. (It should be noted that Israel has an estimateed 250 nuclear devices and Iran zero at this point.) And he talked about efforts to stem Iran's support for Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.

He committed the United States to oppose any attempts at the United Nations to de-legitimize the state of Israel. He said that the United States would stand up against efforts to single out Israel at the United Nations.

He recognized that Israel has a problem with negotiating with an entity that includes a "terrorist" group and said that the United States will insist Hamas accept the basic responsibility of peace --recognize Israel's right to exist, reject violence, adhere to existing agreements and release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

But the status quo is unsustainable. He cited three basic facts, which indicate that peace must be obtained soon.

First, the number of Palestinians living west of the Jordan is growing rapidly and fundamentally reshaping the demographic realities of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Second, Technology will make it harder for Israel to defend itself in the absence of genuine peace.

Third, which I found most compelling, a new generation of Arabs are reshaping the region so that a just and lasting peace can no longer be forged with one or two Arab leaders alone. This generation of Arabs must see peace obtained so that it can be maintained in the future.

He pointed out that the Palestinians are pursuing United Nations recognition because of the world's impatience to see peace achieved. He did note that the Administration would hold the Palestinians accountable for their rhetoric.

He brought up the whole issue of the 1967 borders and said that they would have to include land-swaps and the borders would have to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.

"We can not wait another decade, or another two decades, or three decades, to achieve peace. The world is moving too fast. The extraordinary challenges facing Israel would only grow. Delay will only undermine Israel's security and the peace that the Israeli people deserve."

Good luck, Bibi, in trying to top that.

The speech would hardly qualify in the words of Mitt Romney as throwing "Israel under the bus." In fact, I could not think of a stronger defense of Israel than the President gave and still be responsible to the issue of Israel's real security. I would like to hear from the Israeli Prime Minister, on how specifically he is enhancing the security of his own country since everything his government does seems to undermine it.

Be interesting to see how the Wild Things react to the speech and how his words can be misconstrued. The whole speech is worth accessing on line.