Netanyahu Rejects Obama's 1967 Border Proposal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in front of President Obama and the media, explicitly rejected the president's call for a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders.

Sitting beside Obama following a private Oval Office meeting, the visiting prime minister said Friday that he values the president's efforts to advance the peace process and intends to work with him. But he said the president's call for Israel to pull back to the borders that existed before the Six-Day War is not tenable.

"We can't go back to those indefensible lines. ... I discussed this with the president," Netanyahu said.

The meeting marked an especially tense moment for the two heads of state. The U.S.-Israeli relationship has endured several tests since Obama took office, and the president's endorsement of a key Palestinian statehood demand in his major address on Middle East policy Thursday was no exception.

Netanyahu on Friday echoed concerns of other Israelis that a full return to the 1967 borders could leave Israel vulnerable and would not result in a lasting peace.

"We both agree that a peace based on illusions will crash against the rocks of Middle Eastern reality. ... For there to be peace, the Palestinians will have to accept some basic realities -- the first is that while Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace it cannot go back to the 1967 lines, because these lines are indefensible" Netanyahu said. He said the two leaders still agree on the "overall direction" for peace in the region.

Obama, speaking to reporters, did not mention his border demand but stood by his Middle East speech. Obama said Friday that differences remain between the United States and Israel over the Middle East peace process, but that their relationship is "sound and will continue" and differences will be worked out "between friends."

Showing some common ground, both leaders stressed that Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group which recently announced a unity agreement with Fatah, is not a reliable partner in peace talks.