U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton took on President Barack Obama this week over the presidents remarks about Israel.
Tipton planned to send a letter to Obama on Friday, asking him to retract his remarks about Israels borders and a future state of Palestine.
It was the first major foray into foreign policy for Tipton, a freshman Republican from Cortez.
Obamas May 19 speech touched off controversy when he said Israel must return to its 1967 borders, with some land swaps to the Palestinians who are trying to establish a new country. Israel has occupied parts of Egypt, Jordan and Syria since the Six-Day War in 1967.
Its inappropriate for our nation to be telling another sovereign nation what its borders are going to be, Tipton said.
In his speech on the Middle East, Obama called for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states, Obama said.
The Obama administration defended the speech as nothing new, because Israel and the Palestinians have negotiated for years on the idea that the Palestinians will create a state out of the occupied territories, with some changes to the 1967 borders.
But Tipton and other Republicans saw the speech as part of a pattern of hostility from the White House toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Tipton co-wrote his letter with fellow Colorado Republican Mike Coffman of Aurora and Rep. Joe Walsh, an Illinois Republican. As of Friday afternoon, 31 members of Congress had signed the letter.
Mr. President, we are extremely disappointed that you took it upon yourself to redefine the borders between Israel and Palestine, the letter says.
Tipton echoed Netanyahus comments this week that the 1967 border would make Israel militarily indefensible. Israel should not give away the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria, he said.
That would be like Cortez giving away the Mesa Verde plateau to somebody that had a stated objective of creating harm in your country, Tipton said.
Although Tipton is not known as a foreign policy activist, he said members of Congress can speak out on all kinds of issues.
He visited Israel three times as a private tourist in the 1970s and 1980s and found it to be a fascinating part of the world.
From a faith standpoint, obviously it means a lot to me, and from a historical standpoint, theres so much there, he said.
Tipton said countries other than Israel Syria, for example should possibly give up land to form a Palestinian state.
Israel doesnt have enough land to give Palestine what you would consider enough land mass to be a legitimate, sovereign state. Its a very small country, Tipton said.
Reach Joe Hanel at [email protected].
