NY Senator Chuck Schumer was angered by the speech. From Yeshiva World:
“To make absolute statements, particularly when in the past Israel has sort of done everything the Palestinians asked and they still won’t give her peace is to me a counter productive policy,” Sen. Charles Schumer said.
Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy is enthused:
tough, even-handed, and clear. It’s exactly what needed to be said, and it throws down the gauntlet directly and at the Presidential level. Netanyahu won September 22, but Obama and his team aren’t playing to win a day. They’re playing to win the game: achieving a two-state solution which protects American national security interests, along with the vital and just interests of both sides. I’ve had plenty of criticisms of the Obama team’s tactical choices along the way — letting the settlements battle draw out, not acting to alleviate the Gaza disaster, unreasonably expecting Arab concessions in response to tepid Israeli statements, and do on. But they’ve made it clear that the time for games is coming to an end, and that their patience is wearing thin.
