independent palestine must also stop trying to tear down israel. after thousands of years, jews and arabs are not strangers in a strange land. after 60 years in the community of nations, israel s existence must not be a subject for debate. israel is a sovereign state. and the historic homeland of the jewish people. it should be clear to all that efforts to chip away at israel s legitimacy will only be met by the unshakable opposition of the united states. and efforts to threaten or kill israelis will do nuthing to help the palestinian people. the slaughter of innocent israelis is not resistance, it s injustice. and make no mistake, the courage of a man like president abbas who stands up for his people in front of the world under very
has made a difference on the ground and improved the atmosphere for talks. our position on this issue is well known. we believe that the moratorium should be extended. we also believe that talks should press on until completed. now is the time for the parties to help each other overcome this obstacle. now is the time to build the trust and provide the time for substantial progress to be made. now is the time for this opportunity to be seized. so that it does not slip away. now peace must be made by israelis and palestinians, but each of us has a responsibility to do our part, as well. those of us who are friends of israel must understand the true security for the jewish state requires an independent palestinian, one that allows the palestinian people to live with dignity and opportunity.
little while ago and addressed a number of issues from the global economy, climate change and world disasters. a large part of his speech was devoted to the israeli/palestinian conflict. peace must be made by israelis and palestinians, but each of us has a responsibility to do our part, as well. when we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the united nations, an independent, sovereign state of palestinian living in peace with isra israel. nbc mike viqueira joining us now from the white house. mike, did the president hit all the right notes this morning? this is an annual thing. an opening of the general assembly and this president had addressed them last year at this time and he made the trip and hit a number of issues that you would expect given the venue. he talk about iraq and reconfirmed the commitment and iran, tough talk for iran and its regime in terms of its nuclear program and getting tough and saying at the same time the d