Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Are a Threat to the State of Israel

And Joe Biden is just a fucking idiot.

That's me saying so. Not putting words in anyone else's mouth.

the Telegraph h/t Michael Travis

US-Israeli relations in 'crisis of historic proportions'
Israel has admitted its relations with the United States are in a "crisis of historic proportions" in the wake of the row over 1,600 new settler homes.

By Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem

Officials said they had hit a "35-year low" after a visit by Vice President Joe Biden last week was overshadowed by the announcement.

Washington has warned Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, that he will remain out of favour unless he accedes to a series politically painful demands.


Related Articles
The crisis of Israel-US relations and beyond In a telephone call, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, ordered Mr Netanyahu to reverse a decision to build 1,600 homes for Israeli settlers in occupied East Jerusalem that sparked the diplomatic row.

She also instructed him to issue a formal pledge that peace talks would focus on core issues such as the future of Jerusalem and the borders of a Palestinian state.

In addition, the Israeli prime minister was urged to make a substantial confidence-building gesture to the Palestinians. Mrs Clinton suggested this could take the form of prisoner releases, an easing of the blockade of Gaza and the transfer of greater territory in the West Bank to Palestinian control.

Signalling the depth of America's displeasure, Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington, told colleagues the crisis was one of "historic" proportions. Not since the Gerald Ford administration had demanded Israel's partial withdrawal from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula had ties been so strained, he was quoted as saying.

Mr Oren spoke after being summoned for reprimand at the State Department which he described as "extremely harsh".

The Obama administration's anger towards Israel reflects a growing perception in Washington that Mr Netanyahu is deliberately seeking to scupper the US president's attempts to resurrect the Middle East peace process.

Israel has consistently refused Palestinian demands for a limited halt to all Jewish construction on land captured during the Six Day War of 1967, although Mr Netanyahu has agreed to slow down building in the West Bank for 10 months.

US anger has been exacerbated by the humiliation and embarrassment suffered by Mr Biden who had expected to announce new talks during his visit last week.

Mr Biden is thought to have been under the impression he had broken the impasse after allegedly securing a private commitment from Mr Netanyahu that no new building would begin in East Jerusalem while talks were under way.

But just hours after Mr Biden triumphantly heralded a new era of compromise, matters quickly soured when approval was given for the construction of 1,600 new homes in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.

Mr Netanyahu, who claimed he was unaware that the construction order had been made, apologised for the timing of the announcement and has, at Mrs Clinton's insistence, ordered an investigation into how it was made.

Despite the unprecedented pressure he is facing from Israel's superpower patron, Mr Netanyahu sounded a note of defiance yesterday, by rejecting calls to halt settlement construction in East Jerusalem.

"Construction will continue in Jerusalem as this has been the case over the past 42 years," he said.

Israeli politicians said that Mr Netanyahu risked the collapse of his fragile right-wing coalition if he accepted any of Mrs Clinton's demands.

"The demands they are making of the government now are almost impossible as far as the coalition is concerned," a cabinet minister from Mr Netanyahu's Likud party was quoted as saying.

"How can we announce a construction freeze in Jerusalem? A move like that would break up the coalition."

Yet Mr Netanyahu faces personal isolation from the Obama administration were he to defy the demands, a Western diplomat said.