Amidror denies he tried to have Obama's speech altered
National sec. adviser says he did not try to convince White House to change president's speech calling on Israel to return to 1967 borders.
By JPOST.COM STAFFAmidror 311(photo credit: Nisim Lev)
Israel's national security advisor Yaakov Amidror on Tuesday denied reports he and his predecssor Uzi Arad tried to convince the White House's national security advisor Tom Danilone to change some of the wording in a political speech US President Barack Obama is expected to give on Thursday.According to a report published in Yediot Ahronoth Tuesday morning, Amidror and Arad told the US that Obama will not allow "genuine negotiations" to take place. RELATED:PM: Israel may give up settlements not in major blocsObama to address opening session of AIPAC meetingAmidror told Army Radio that he never "tried to convince anyone of anything" and that "only thing right about the report was mine and Uzi Arad's name. The issue of Obama's speech did not come up in the meeting with Danilone, and there was not even a hint about what the president [Obama] and the prime minister [Netanyahu] will say."Recent reports in the media have claimed that Amidror's latest trip to Washington was designed to prepare officials for Netanyahu's speech to Congress, but Amidror said "This is a big mistake of the newspapers. The speeches are not a big issues for us. There are many issues which are important for the future of Israel and on these issues we focused."The Yediot Ahronoth report claimed that from conversations between Amidror and his predecessor Uzi Arad, US President Barack Obama intends to call on Israel to return to 1967 borders in a speech he is expected to give Thursday.Yediot had reported that Obama would also propose a plan to divide Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but will not support a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.
