Sadly, Arab hatred is only rivaled by the left’s smoldering contempt for Israel.

(Briefing Room) – Taking a shot at President Obama, the second-ranking House Republican said Sunday that Arab culture – not the dispute over 1967 borders – is to blame for the long-standing absence of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

Painting in broad strokes, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) accused the Palestinians – and the Arab world more generally – of harboring a “resentment and hatred” toward Israel that, he says, has made an accord impossible.

Speaking to thousands of pro-Israel activists assembled in Washington for the annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Cantor told the tale of an unnamed Palestinian woman who traveled from Gaza to an Israeli hospital for life-saving treatment. Some time later, he said, she returned with intentions of attacking the same hospital in a suicide bombing.

“What kind of culture leads one to do that? Sadly, it is a culture infused with resentment and hatred,” said Cantor, one of just two Jewish Republicans in Congress. “It is this culture that underlies the Palestinians’ and the broader Arab world’s refusal to accept Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

“This is the root of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians – it is not about the ’67 lines,” he added to roaring applause and a standing ovation. “And until Israel’s enemies come to terms with this reality, a true peace will be impossible.”