US Congressman Juan Vargas (D-Calif.). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – US Congressman Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) recently offered an unusual take on calls for Israel to retreat to the 1967 lines.

Vargas was speaking at the Endowment for Middle East Truth’s (EMET) 11th annual “Rays of Light in the Darkness” dinner in Washington DC last Wednesday. EMET is a pro-Israel lobbying group.

Vargas represents the 51st Congressional district, which encompasses the San Diego region.

He began in a humorous vein, then segued into an affirmation that Israel’s historic rights to its land stretch back for thousands of years.

“I have a pet peeve when people talk about ’67’,” said Vargas, referring to those who urge Israel to return to “the ’67 lines.” Israel “is one of the few countries in the world that existed in the year 67. There was no United States in [the year] 67. [So] when people say that we should ‘go back to the 67 lines,’ I’m OK with that — the lines may be twice as long, but the neighbors may not.”

The 1967 lines refer to the armistice lines before the 1967 Six-Day War, delineating the boundary between Israel and its Arab neighbors following the 1948 War of Independence.

Meanwhile, in a solemn moment at the event, Congressman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said he and his wife, Debbie, stood on the banks of the Danube River some years ago and pledged their commitment to Israel. He said they chose that spot after reading that the Nazis “would tie three Jews together and shoot the two on the ends to not waste a bullet, and push them into the Danube to drown.” Before killing them, the Germans “would take off their shoes, because their shoes were seen to be of value…I say: Never again will the most valuable thing of a Jewish life be their shoes.”

Meadows has been particularly outspoken on the issue of American victims of Palestinian terrorism. At a February 2016 congressional hearing, Meadows sharply grilled Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brad Wiegmann, after Wiegmann claimed the Obama administration was doing everything possible to pursue the killers.