In a recent comment made by Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., relations between the two countries are worse than they have been in more than 35 years. Although Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that there is no harm that comes to Arab Palestinians from the building of these 1600 new homes, Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy head Baroness Ashton have expressed disapproval of the move as endangering any peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
In the meanwhile, tensions have flared in East Jerusalem. Arab protestors hurled rocks and blocked roads while Israeli police donned riot gear.
The Obama administration, besides dealing with a bank reform proposal and a health care bill in the Senate, is struggling with China to lower its currency rate and to censure Iran’s development of a nuclear program. The new power, confident in its veto ability in the U.N., refuses to take action and as events continue, the American President may have to draw lines that previously he has been vacillating over.
While some argue that peace in the Middle East can never be achieved due to existential differences, the prospect of compromise that President Obama is so renowned for has yet to be offered. Perhaps if he can come down on Iran the way he has proposed, and work with the Israelis to deal directly with Palestinians, the relationship between the U.S. and Israel will resume its natural course.
