Mr. Hirsch is not alone in this complete misunderstanding – actually, I would say it is a misrepresentation – of President Obama’s comments. All the right-wing panderers to Jewish voters’ concerns for the security of Israel have made the same misrepresentation of the President’s remarks. The president has not requested or demanded any Israeli “withdrawal” to the ’67 borders. He said, look at the ’67 borders, and then do some swapping, face-to-face, Israelis and Palestinians. He also made it clear that the US will oppose any UN effort at recognizing a Palestinian state prior to resolution of the borders between Israel and representatives of the Palestinians. That’s all he said, and it is consistent with all that his predecessors have said, going back to LBJ in ’67.

The persistence of the president’s opponents in characterizing his remarks as a demand that Israel withdraw to the ’67 borders is a big lie, intended to tear into his support among the majority of American Jewish voters.

There are genuinely difficult issues in establishing a permanent peace settlement among Israel, its sovereign neighbors and the non-Jewish residents of the Occupied Territories. And the bad faith in the process since 1947 has clearly been almost entirely by Israel’s neighbors and other opponents of the State of Israel. But another recitation of Arab bad faith is not going to accomplish what it has not accomplished in the last 63 years.

Israel’s “best friend,” whether you think it’s Reagan, Bush (HW or W), Nixon, Ford, or Scoop Jackson, has not enabled Israel to bring about a lasting settlement with all its enemies. But some of Israel’s friends have helped buy peace with Egypt and Jordan – which may or may not last much longer, but (in the case of Egypt) worked for 30 years.

So stop with the preposterous lies, and start recognizing that you may not know who Israel’s real friends are. You clearly do not know what the current US president said.