Plugging an upcoming story on Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Russ Mitchell highlighted that “Congress gives Israel's Prime Minister dozens of standing ovations but,” Mitchell warned as if it were just as relevant or surprising, “the Palestinians are not buying his peace plan.” The Palestinians haven’t yet bought into the right for Israel to even exist.
Setting up the subsequent report, Mitchell repeated his formulation: “Nancy Cordes reports he got a standing ovation, but the Palestinians were not impressed.” Cordes emphasized how Benjamin Netanyahu “refused to compromise on the biggest prize: Jerusalem” and “an aide to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called that a ‘declaration of war against the Palestinian people.’”
Cordes concluded by justifying President Obama’s hostility to Israel. After a soundbite of House Speaker John Boehner proclaiming “we stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel,” she asserted: “Congress, of course, does not have to broker a peace agreement while the White House must try to get both sides to give.”
From the Tuesday, May 24 CBS Evening News:
RUSS MITCHELL: Four days after that chilly meeting at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got a warm welcome today from the House and Senate. He said he's willing to make painful compromises in the name of peace. Nancy Cordes reports he got a standing ovation, but the Palestinians were not impressed.
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU, HOUSE CHAMBER: You got bin laden. Good riddance!
NANCY CORDES: Congress greeted Israel's Prime Minister with 29 standing ovations as he vowed he was prepared to negotiate a lasting peace.
NETANYAHU: We'll be generous about the size of the future Palestinian state.
CORDES: But then he laid out his terms -- and it was a long list. A Palestinian state, he said, must have no army of its own and Palestinian leaders must sever ties with Hamas.
NETANYAHU: Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by the Palestinian version of al Qaeda.
NETANYAHU: Jerusalem must never again be divided.
CORDES: An aide to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called that a “declaration of war against the Palestinian people.” When President Obama tried to push Netanyahu to go further last week, the Israeli leader pushed back, publicly.
NETANYAHU, FRIDAY IN OVAL OFFICE: The Palestinians will have to accept some basic realities.
HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: Today we stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and once again renew our historic partnership.
CORDES: Congress, of course, does not have to broker a peace agreement while the White House must try to get both sides to give. Russ?
