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| In 1977, President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by Marion S. Trikosko (Library of Congress) |
Former President Jimmy Carter unnerves many by his commonsense approach to problems that have plagued the U.S. and the international community for decades. We aren’t accustomed to plainspoken, sensible solutions to recalcitrant issues and too often, Carter’s words of wisdom have been brushed aside – never mind his well-earned Nobel Peace prize in 2002.
In the aftermath of the recent flare-up between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Carter graciously supports Obama while neatly laying out a historically grounded framework for peace in the Middle East. In a recently published op-ed, Carter writes:
It was not a new U.S. policy concerning the borders of Israel, nor should it have been surprising to Israeli leaders, when President Obama stated: “The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.”
U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 of Nov. 22, 1967, concluded the war of that year and has been widely acknowledged by all parties to be the basis for a peace agreement. Its key phrases are, “Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war,” and “Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” These included the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, plus lands belonging to Lebanon, Egypt and Syria.
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