President Obama gives lots of speeches.

But on Thursday, he gave a pretty big one… a long awaited speech addressing the historic changes in the Middle East.

While the main focus of his words was intended to be the “Arab Spring” citizen uprisings… somehow another subject got in the way.

The always-thorny-ever-lasting-mind-numbing conflict between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors raised its ugly head once again.

During his speech, in an effort to re-ignite faltering peace talks between the obstinate opponents, Obama proposed

“The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states.”

This is a serious No-No for some Israelis who claim guarding the smaller 1967 borders would be a security nightmare for them.

The issue also has political implications for Obama in the US. Republicans are in full attack mode, accusing the President of betraying an old friend.

This is one of many Middle East problems dogging the region ( see cartoon above).

It seems these dogs just won’t go away.