Is Obama that dumb or does he hate Israel as much as it appears?

That's the question that I asked myself as I heard the president make his "major" speech on Israel last week.

The idea that it is now U.S. policy (according to Obama) that peace must be based on a return to 1967 borders was dumb enough. (It also, by the way, argues for a new president.) Anyone even remotely familiar with the region knows that's not a practical solution, save maybe Hamas, of course.

For a quick synopsis for how the 1967 boundaries were drawn, consider this explanation from Jamie Weinstein:

"The boundaries came about as result of the 1967 Six Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, who had a combined population many, many multiples to that of the Jewish state. The Arab world, led by Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser, got into a tizzy and was prepping to destroy Israel. For simplification sake, just imagine 30 guys surrounding and preparing to beat up and kill some seemingly tiny fella. Only, the tiny fella turned out to be Bruce Lee and instead of getting pummeled, he kicks the sh*t out of all of them — in six seconds. That’s the Six Day War in a nutshell.

"We could go deeper, of course. But I’ll wait until there is a better shot of achieving a Middle East peace deal than there is of Mel Gibson being appointed to the board of the Jewish Federation ..."

But on top of all that, until the president starts thumping Palestinian leadership and calling them out to purge itself of Hamas, there is absolutely zero chance Israel will negotiate peace. How can a Jewish state negotiate peace with a group that wants to wipe you off the face of the Earth?

Take a look at the Hamas Charter for confirmation. It includes, among other genocidal language, this passage in Article 7:

"By virtue of the distribution of Muslims, who pursue the cause of the Hamas, all over the globe, and strive for its victory, for the reinforcement of its positions and for the encouragement of its Jihad, the Movement is a universal one. It is apt to be that due to the clarity of its thinking, the nobility of its purpose and the loftiness of its objectives ... Whoever denigrates its worth, or avoids supporting it, or is so blind as to dismiss its role, is challenging Fate itself ... Hamas is one of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the confrontation with the Zionist invasion. It links up with the setting out of the Martyr Izz a-din al-Qassam and his brothers in the Muslim Brotherhood who fought the Holy War in 1936; it further relates to another link of the Palestinian Jihad and the Jihad and efforts of the Muslim Brothers during the 1948 War, and to the Jihad operations of the Muslim Brothers in 1968 and thereafter. But even if the links have become distant from each other, and even if the obstacles erected by those who revolve in the Zionist orbit, aiming at obstructing the road before the Jihad fighters, have rendered the pursuance of Jihad impossible; nevertheless, the Hamas has been looking forward to implement Allah’s promise whatever time it might take. The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim).

So, I must ask: Is Obama that dumb or does he hate Israel as much as it appears?