Kadima leader Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told a conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations Monday night that her "red line" for peace with the Palestinian Authority is the refusal of its demands to allow foreign Arabs to immigrate to Israel.
She made no mention of the Golan Heights or the status of Jerusalem, which she once said should remain the undivided capital of Israel.
Referring to the PA's desire to allow millions of Arab descendants of former Israelis to enter the country, she stated, "No refugee can enter Israel as part of the peace process. Their national aspiration gets an answer in a different place."
The American conference represents 51 large Jewish organizations from all streams of Judaism and politics, including delegates of groups associated with Likud and Peace Now.
Conference chairman Malcolm Hoenlein, in an interview with Israel National News TV, said that Jewish groups are united with Israel on three principal issues - the Iranian nuclear threat, anti-Semitism and the security of Israel.
He specifically said that territorial compromise is not a key issue and is one for the Israeli government to decide.
"Jews always have been made up of diverse groups and [that] in part is our strength," he stated. Unity does not require homogeneity but is a precondition for every great miracle that has happened to the Jewish people."
He said the mission of the Conference is "to see to it that Israel is not forced to do things that it does not want to do."
Concerning President Barack Obama, Hoenlein advised Israel to be patient, "We always look at the dark side" when there is a new government because it is unknown, he noted. The Conference chairman pointed out that the first action of the new Congress was to overwhelming support Israel in the war against terror in Gaza.
The Obama administration is not the same as the Bush government "but we have to give it time," he concluded. "Our job is to help educate them and inform them."
Netanyahu at Conference
Likud Party Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu told the Conference that he would seek the broadest government coalition possible.
"There is a lot of work ahead of us, and it cannot be done by itself but needs the support of the best, most experienced people in Israel. I want to control a government that will include these people, even if they are from another party, from outside of what is called 'the national camp', and I hope they'll agree," he said.