U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor took issue Friday with the starting point President Barack Obama proposed a day earlier for a peace accord between Palestine and Israel.
Even as Obama welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, the Virginia Republican was in Atlanta campaigning for area House members. He made his feelings known to a meeting of the Atlanta Press Club.
"I'm very concerned about the president's position that any talks between the parties have to start with the ‘67 lines," Cantor said, referring to boundaries that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. "They do not allow Israel to secure itself."
Obama also suggested that Israel take the lead in resolving its conflicts with threatening neighbor nations. But Cantor said the U.S. should not abandon its longtime partner, particularly in light of a recent accord between once-rival Palestinian factions Hamas (which the U.S. considers terrorists) and Fatah.
"Why don't we do what should be done, and stand up for our ally," he said. "Israel is on the front line of the same war that we're fighting against the spread of radical Islam. The people who advocate for the annihilation of Israel would advocate the same about us and what we stand for in the United States of America."
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