Here are some recent articles on the immediate situation:
Jacob Heilbrunn, Hillary Clinton and Israel Huffington Post 03/12/10: he puts great significance on the fact that the US government was willing to publicly complain about a blatant diplomatic "bitch slap" from Israel, and one that has real consequences for the US position in the Middle East and Afghanistan-Pakistan. "Obama, in other words,is going for broke," he writes. If we see his administration actually start to reduce military and economic aid to Israel to impose material consequences for their settlement policies, then we can say he's applying a level of seriousness to Israel-Palestine peace issues than we've seen from a US administration in a long time. But responding with a bare minimum of diplomatic griping in response to a serious diplomatic incident doesn't merit being described as some new breakthrough, as Heibrunn does. At best, it's marginally more pragmatic than the Christian Zionist/neocon policy pursued by the Cheney-Bush administration.
M.J. Rosenberg, The US-Israeli Crackup TPM Cafe 03/13/10 and The US-Israel Crackup: Part Two Huffington Post 03/12/10: He reminds us that Biden's trip had two purposes. Promoting the peace talks was one. The other was to coordinate US policy on Iran with Israel. Which makes Prime Minister Netanyahu's attending a John Hagee hoe-down in Jerusalem the day before Biden's visit a double message: Hagee is not only totally opposed to peace talks there, he's also an advocate for US war against Iran. Rosenberg - a former editor of the AIPAC lobby's newsletter - thinks that it's good to see Secretary Clinton responding diplomatically to Netanyahu's insult to the United States. But he's not confident it represents a substantive change:
... although this all looks good, we should not kid ourselves. AIPAC is coming to Washington for their grovelfest (see link in original column below) and that means angry donors demanding that the US apologize to the Israeli government for hurting its feelings. Count on your favorite House liberals (Chris Van Hollen, Anthony Weiner, Jerry Nadler, Steny Hoyer, Alan Grayson, Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, etc) to lead the charge for Bibi with Senators Boxer, Schumer, etc joining in).Remarks by Vice President Biden: The Enduring Partnership Between the United States and Israel White House Web site 03/11/10: a surprisingly gushing speech at Tel Aviv University Thursday after just being diplomatically humiliated before the world by the Netanyahu government.
In the end, we'll almost surely cave. One thing to remember, though. Israel's behavior this week really does indicate that its posturing about Iranian nukes is a kind of head fake. If Israel was really worried, it would not have insulted the US government publicly. At least those of us who really do care about Israel (the real Israel, not the Israel of the settlers) can rest assured that the Iranian threat is not "existential" at all, as Israelis are always claiming. If it was, they would not have forced a confrontation with America over these fanatical settler zealots rather than seriously coordinate with the US on Iran (which is what Biden was in Israel for).
J.J. Goldberg, Knesset to Biden: For Smooth Relations, Free Pollard Jewish Daily Forward 03/11/10: Jonathan Pollard is serving time in US federal prison for espionage on behalf of Israel.
Mark Landler, Clinton Rebukes Israel on Housing Announcement New York Times 03/12/10: news report on Clinton's diplomatic response to the Netanyahu government. Clinton is currently scheduled to speak at the annual AIPAC Policy to be held in Washington, March 21-23. Since Netanyahu is also one of the featured guests, how she approaches that speech - and if she gives it there at all - will tell us a lot about how serious the Obama administration takes Netanyahu's diplomatic insult this past week.
Abraham H. Foxman, After Biden's Israel Contretemps, Stepping Back Anti-Defamation League Web site 03/11/10, and Administration's Dressing Down of Israel is a 'Gross Overraction' Anti-Defamation League Web site 03/12/10: quotes ADL Director Foxman's reaction to US diplomatic response to Netanyahu:
We are shocked and stunned at the Administration's tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem. We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States.Obama swallows pride as Israel continues defiance Gulf News 03/12/10
Sima Kadmon, Our government is a joke YNet News (Yedioth Ahronoth) 03/13/10:
Yet it appears that again we are dealing with disorderly conduct by the Prime Minister’s Office that allows such grave matter to materialize. Time and again, we see incidents happening here that attest to foolishness, indifference, and insensitivity. Otherwise, how could it be that every time an American envoy arrives here, ranging from George Mitchell to Hillary Clinton to Joe Biden, we embarrass them with acts that look like sticking a finger in one’s eye?Report: U.S. vows to halt Israeli building in East Jerusalem Haaretz 03/13/10
Jennifer Rubin, More Criticism Commentary 03/13/10: a neconservative reaction.
Jim Lobe, US-Israel: Tiff or Tipping Point? Inter Press Service 03/13/10:
This week's contretemps with Biden and now Clinton, however, has moved the settlement issue - and particularly the fate of East Jerusalem, whose status as the capital of any future Palestinian state is widely considered a pre-condition for any viable two-state solution - front and centre once again.Yitzhak Benhorin, Ambassador Oren reprimanded YNet News (Yedioth Ahronoth) 03/14/10: "The US State Department summoned Israel's Ambassador in Washington Michael Oren for a meeting Friday where he was reprimanded by a US official."
"It is now abundantly clear that with or without a formal declaration from Netanyahu, getting events in Jerusalem under control - which includes a de facto full-stop settlement freeze in Jerusalem - is no mere discretionary gesture but a political imperative," according to Lara Friedman and Daniel Seidemann of Americans for Peace Now (APN). "Failing that, this political process will be stillborn."
But it is not only the peace talks, which Obama's special envoy, George Mitchell, had laboured long and hard to convene, that this week's incident has put into question. In the words of one veteran U.S. Mideast hand, Aaron David Miller, it also raised new questions over "the degree to which Israel is willing to take into account U.S. interests."
Indeed, while Biden's mission was originally aimed at publicly reassuring Israelis of Washington's "absolute, total, unvarnished commitment" to their security, as he put it immediately after his arrival, the private message, especially in light of the Interior Ministry's announcement, was that Israel should reciprocate, according to an account published in Yedioth Ahronoth.
"'This is starting to get dangerous for us,' Biden castigated his interlocutors," the newspaper reported. "'What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.'"
Khaled Abu Toameh, PA [Palestinian Authority] demands US assurances on settlements Jerusalem Post 03/14/10
Aluf Benn, Obama tells Netanyahu: Show us you're serious about peace Haaretz 03/14/10
Netanyahu is trading Israeli security for right-wing ideology Haaretz editorial 03/14/10:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has led Israel into a serious crisis in relations with the United States and to a collapse in peace talks with the Palestinians just when they were to be resumed.Tags: israel, obama administration, palestinians
A year after he took office, it is apparent that his government's policies, which made it top priority to populate East Jerusalem with Jews, is leading to Israel's increasing international isolation and threatening its key security interests in the name of an extreme right-wing ideology.
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