Netanyahu Condemns Obama Over Israel’s Land Claims
Israeli PM Netanyahu rebuts Obama’s remarks on Israel’s land ownership, reigniting a decade-old political feud.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly rebuked former President Barack Obama’s remarks about Israel’s land claims, reigniting a long-standing political rivalry. In a video posted on X, Netanyahu rejected Obama’s assertion that Jews seized land from its original inhabitants when they founded Israel.
The Jewish people’s right to their own state in their ancestral homeland is non-negotiable.
“The Jewish people are not foreign occupiers in the land of our forefathers,” Netanyahu stated in the post. “Our history is not a colonial enterprise. Our land is not stolen land.” He further emphasized, “This is our homeland; it’s called Judea. That’s where Jews come from. We’ve been attached to it for thousands of years.” Netanyahu described Obama’s remarks as “regrettable” but did not directly name the former president.
Obama made these comments during a paid onstage interview with Irish journalist Susan McKay at the O2 Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before a crowd of about 7,000, according to the New York Post. Hours earlier, Queen’s University Belfast had awarded him an honorary doctorate. In the interview, Obama acknowledged the persecution Jews have faced for millennia, particularly in Europe, and said they had good reason to seek refuge. However, he added, “What is also undeniable is that they took land off people and they were excessive. And those people understandably said, ‘This is injustice and I want my land back.'” He also claimed Israel had “ceded moral ground” by relying on its military edge instead of compromise, stating he had made this case directly to Netanyahu while in office.
Netanyahu countered by asserting that Israel is not the obstacle to peace, blaming the refusal of “our enemies, and America’s enemies” to accept a Jewish state “in any boundaries.” The exchange has revived a feud that significantly shaped both men’s political careers. In 2011, Netanyahu criticized Obama for using Israel’s pre-1967 borders as a basis for negotiations. In 2015, he addressed Congress to oppose the nuclear agreement Obama was negotiating with Iran. He also condemned the administration’s decision in December 2016 to allow a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements to pass.
The latest clash occurs ten days before Israelis vote in an October 27 election, widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership. The renewed tension highlights the deepening divisions over Israel’s land claims and the broader geopolitical implications of the conflict.
Source: Daily Wire
