Obama Sends a Tough Message to Abbas
Obama may have told the Palestinians they would receive territory equal to the pre-1967 borders, but he also made it clear that any security questions would be resolved in Israel's favor.
Obama's messages to Abbas:
1) You should be talking to Israel, not UN
2) Your inclusion of Hamas in your government is unacceptable - and a problem for you not us to resolve
3) Any deal with Israel must be final. No using "declaration of statehood" as a basis for further demands against Israel.
4) Your state will be non-militarized.
5) The border question will be resolved broadly in your favor: i.e. you get territory equal to pre-67 West Bank and Gaza. But the security question will be resolved in Israel's favor: we believe that they need to be protected from you, not you protected from them.
Bottom line: that was not the speech of a man who sounds like he intends to work very hard on Israel-Palestinian peace talks over the next 18 months.