U.S.-Israel Relations | The American Task Force on Palestine

Officials: US wants Israel to cancel building plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - March 15, 2010 - 12:00am

The U.S. is pressing Israel to scrap a contentious east Jerusalem building project whose approval has touched off the most serious diplomatic feud with Washington in years, said Israeli officials Monday. Tensions in the city at the center of the spat were high, with police out in large numbers in Jerusalem's volatile Old City in expectation of renewed clashes and Palestinian shopkeepers shuttering their stores for several hours to protest Israel's actions in the city.

Israel envoy: U.S. ties at their lowest ebb in 35 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - March 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has told the country's diplomats there that U.S.-Israeli relations face their worst crisis in 35 years, despite attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to project a sense of "business as usual." Oren was speaking to the Israeli consuls general in a conference call on Saturday night.

Settlements or us
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - (Analysis) March 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Binyamin Netanyahu had thought that the crisis was over.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's harsh words stun Israel
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Los Angeles Times - March 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Beginning as a spat over a single housing project, a dispute this week between the Obama administration and Israel has ballooned into the biggest U.S.-Israeli clash in 20 years, adding to months of strain between Washington and one of its closest allies. Israel's decision to move ahead with 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden, drew criticism from Washington in language rarely directed at even Iran or North Korea. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Israel's announcement "was an insult to the United States."

Netanyahu Offers Apology, but No Shift in Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told his cabinet on Sunday that the ill-timed announcement of new housing plans for a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem during a visit by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. last week had been “regrettable” and “hurtful.” Mr. Netanyahu also said that the government had set up a committee to “examine the chain of events and to ensure procedures” to prevent such an episode from happening again.

Netanyahu faces 'moment of truth' after US slams Israel 'insult'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - March 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found himself on the defensive after an unprecedented public assault by US officials over the weekend, as the diplomatic furor over new building in Jerusalem escalated.

Israeli apology gets cool reception in Washington
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Josef Federman - March 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel's prime minister expressed regret Sunday for a crisis with the United States over plans to expand a Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem, even as American officials played down the apology and called for bold Israeli action to get peace efforts back on track. With tensions rising, Israel deployed hundreds of police around east Jerusalem's Old City and heavily restricted Palestinian access to the area — the scene of several recent clashes.

Even Labor ministers oppose halting east Jerusalem building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - (Analysis) March 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu received backing from his ministers and the parties in his coalition Sunday as he faced a deepening crisis in Israel’s relations with the American administration. While officials in Washington were quoted as saying that Netanyahu would have to choose between his ties with US President Barack Obama’s government and his coalition partners, ministers and MKs took steps to ensure that he would not have to make such a difficult choice.

Driving Drunk in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) March 13, 2010 - 1:00am

I am a big Joe Biden fan. The vice president is an indefatigable defender of U.S. interests abroad. So it pains me to say that on his recent trip to Israel, when Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s government rubbed his nose in some new housing plans for contested East Jerusalem, the vice president missed a chance to send a powerful public signal: He should have snapped his notebook shut, gotten right back on Air Force Two, flown home and left the following scribbled note behind: “Message from America to the Israeli government: Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.

The Petraeus briefing: Biden’s embarrassment is not the whole story
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Marc Perry - (Analysis) March 13, 2010 - 1:00am

On Jan. 16, two days after a killer earthquake hit Haiti, a team of senior military officers from the U.S. Central Command (responsible for overseeing American security interests in the Middle East), arrived at the Pentagon to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The team had been dispatched by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus to underline his growing worries at the lack of progress in resolving the issue. The 33-slide, 45-minute PowerPoint briefing stunned Mullen.