Obama urges Israelis to pursue peace with Palestinians (2)

"That is where peace begins," Obama averred.

While Palestinians must recognize that Israel "will be a Jewish state," Obama said that Israelis must recognize that continued settlement activity is "counterproductive to the cause of peace, that an independent Palestine must be viable, that real borders will have to be drawn."

In parallel to stressing the importance of establishing a Palestine, Obama reassured Israelis that the United States will always guarantee their country's survival.

He said the time has come for the Arab world to abandon its rejectionist policies and launch steps toward normalizing relations with the Jewish state, noting "Arab states must adapt to a world that has changed. The days when they could condemn Israel to distract their people from a lack of opportunity are over."

"Make no mistake: those who adhere to the ideology of rejecting Israel's right to exist might as well reject the earth beneath them and the sky above, because Israel is not going anywhere," Obama said.

"Today, I want to tell you, particularly the young people, that so long as there is a United States of America, Ah-tem lo lah-vahd, " Obama said in Hebrew, meaning "you are not alone."

Some Israeli pundits have already termed the speech "historic."

"This will not be the same country after this speech," the Ha' aretz newspaper opined. "Not soon. Perhaps not in many years. But an event like this, inspiration like this, does not in the end go to waste. It gives new strength to the world-weary and the habitually trashed."