Is a crisis brewing between the U.S. and Israel? On the one had, we have a new American president determined to make headway on the perennial presidential to-do item of forging Mideast peace, and on the other, we have a new Israeli prime minister who sees the divided Palestinians no longer viable as a peace partner and in need of long-term development before statehood can be considered. And then there is Iran, whose threats to attack Israel are combined with a nuclear program that has raised alarm throughout the region, threatening to unleash a regional arms race…or worse. This report from Spiegel Online describes a dramatic change in U.S. policy, noting such recent U.S. actions as: calling on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; calling for a freeze of settlements; proposing a new engagement with Iran; and, working towards a wider Arab-Israeli peace that would include a 57-state-deal with Israel. For some perspective on U.S. – Israel relations, I recommend the Washington Post blog PostGlobal, where the editors have assembled a team of experts to address the following questions:
Are Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama on a collision course over Iran and the Palestinian problem? What would be the consequences of a breach between the United States and Israel?
The expert panel offers a range of perspectives, from suggesting that reports of rising tensions between the U.S. and Israel are greatly exaggerated to a warning that Obama risks losing any chances at a second term if he confronts Israel. We may learn more about the status of relations between the two countries on Monday, when Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Obama at the White House.
Photo: Spiegel Online/DPA
