ADL: US Criticism of Israel Troubling

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON - The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says it is shocked by the harsh public criticism recently directed at Israel by the US Administration.

"We are shocked and stunned at the Administration’s tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem," Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said in a statement.

Israel had been publicly reprimanded in recent days by several US officials, in wake of the announcement that 1,600 new housing units will be built in east Jerusalem. The Americans were especially upset as the announcement coincided with Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel.

'Gross overreaction'

However, ADL said the unprecedented criticism leveled by the US was aimed at placating the Palestinians.

"We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States," ADL's statement said. "One can only wonder how far the US is prepared to go in distancing itself from Israel in order to placate the Palestinians in the hope they see it is in their interest to return to the negotiating table."

MORE...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3861973,00.html

[RandomThoughts]

1. It might be that the US cares so much for Israel

That they want to help it away from its right wing path. It doesn't have to be against Israel, maybe just against the media shaping opinions and some of the leadership.

Or maybe not, but ADL commenting is a bit much, since it has nothing to do with people being Jewish. They hurt there credibility with statements like that.

[DesertFlower]

2. tom friedman on meet the press this morning.

http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2010/03/israels_insult.htm

snip

Biden 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. And right now, you’re driving drunk. You think you can embarrass your only true ally in the world, to satisfy some domestic political need, with no consequences? You have lost total contact with reality. Call us when you’re serious. We need to focus on building our country.”

[Violet_Crumble]

6. Since when has the US been Israel's only true ally in the world?

And what's a 'true ally' as opposed to a normal ally?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

7. I think Israel *can* do that with no consequences.

I don't think Israel is "driving drunk"; I think that Netanyahu has figured out that he can essentially do whatever he likes without more than symbolic opposition from Obama and is taking this to its logical conclusion.

I would love to be proved wrong, but my expectation is that the current clash will end with Washington backing down and Israel going on building while still receiving as much US support as before.

[Jefferson23]

9. I don't disagree with your conclusions, and I too would prefer to be dead wrong.

But what is significant in his writing this condemnation, is that he is a strong supporter of Israel, until recently. Any discord on this subject from a mainstream supporter that strays from enabling Israel and layering on excuses for their choices and conduct is an important step in the correct direction.

[DesertFlower]

12. i agree. i was surprised at those words

coming from friedman.

[bemildred]

3. Troubling to whom?

I am sure some people find it refreshing, a cause for optimism even.

The headline would be better if if said: "ADL troubled by US criticism of Israel." That would be both factual and grammatically correct.

[LeftishBrit]

4. "Gross overreaction* is a good description of this statement by Foxman!

[Scurrilous]

5. Lobby group AIPAC raises alarm over US-Israel spat

<snip>

"A major pro-Israel US lobby group has warned that recent US administration remarks about bilateral ties with Israel were "of serious concern," and urged the White House to ease tensions.

Remarks by President Barack Obama's administration "regarding the US relationship with Israel are a matter of serious concern," said the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in a statement issued Sunday.

"AIPAC calls on the administration to take immediate steps to defuse the tension with the Jewish State," it added."

<snip>

"In their statement Sunday, AIPAC warned that "the escalated rhetoric of recent days" was distracting from "the urgent issue of Iran's rapid pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and all her Arab neighbors."

"The administration should make a conscious effort to move away from public demands and unilateral deadlines directed at Israel, with whom the United States shares basic, fundamental, and strategic interests," AIPAC added."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i24CYqM_RA_ks1KpYVggXQcg6fqw

[Jefferson23]

8. I have to say, I wonder how far the U.S. will go to placate the Palestinians too.

[Jefferson23]

10. AIPAC has a statement for Obama too.

AIPAC CALLS RECENT STATEMENTS BY THE
U.S. GOVERNMENT “A MATTER OF SERIOUS CONCERN”
URGES OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO WORK TO
IMMEDIATELY DEFUSE THE TENSION WITH ISRAEL



** Funny they offer no mention of support to Obama, but that HE is the one who should defuse the situation.

in full here: http://www.aipac.org/Publications/AIPAC_CALLS_ON_OBAMA_ADMIN_TO_DEFUSE_TENSION.pdf

[Violet_Crumble]

14. Well, that's it then. Clearly the US must apologise immediately for embarressing Israel like that...

I can't believe there's people at DU who actually support AIPAC...

[Scurrilous]

11. ADL, AIPAC continue march towards irrelevance

<snip>

"Abraham Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League -- last seen using his position to attack noted anti-Semite Joe Biden -- now wants everyone to know that the main force undermining Middle East peace is the Obama administration's "flawed policy" and not, say, Israel's inflexible right-wing government.

In the short term Israel is (responsible), but in the long term - the U.S. This is a flawed policy that we are seeing in the Middle East, that we were very much concerned about in the beginning of this administration, and that is to what extent this linkage will play in the policy and in the strategy of this administration. There are a lot of people in this administration who had advocated linkage - that all you have to do to resolve all the problems in the Arab Middle East is to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Straw man alert! I challenge Foxman to find one administration official -- just one! -- who claims solving the Israeli-Arab conflict will "solve" the Middle East. That's a ridiculous assertion, which is why nobody in the administration has made it.

What Obama and his team have said is that the Israeli-Arab conflict undermines America's standing in the Arab world, and thus makes it harder to achieve other foreign policy goals in the region. That's why Obama made the issue a priority shortly after taking office; that's why Gen. David Petraeus wants to add the West Bank and Gaza to CENTCOM's area of responsibility.

I spoke yesterday with Mark Perry, the author of that Foreign Policy piece about Petraeus, and he offered a little more detail on why the Pentagon is taking such an interest in the Israeli-Arab conflict.

"I think Petraeus had a real wake-up call around 2007, during the surge. He was meeting with tribal sheikhs in Anbar , or Shi'ite leaders in Baghdad, and they kept saying, 'what are you doing about the Palestinians?' And it was a real wake-up call for him, with everything that was going on in Iraq, that Iraqis were so concerned about the Israeli-Arab conflict."

This is what Biden and Hillary Clinton and other U.S. officials mean by "linkage." Nobody expects that the Islamic State of Iraq will lay down its weapons once Israel lifts the Gaza siege. But when American officials are negotiating with Arab leaders, and those Arab leaders are angry about America's biased role in the Israeli-Arab conflict -- it becomes harder to negotiate!

This concept, that one bilateral relationship can poison other relationships, should not be controversial. But Foxman -- whose organization was founded to combat anti-Semitism, by the way, not make excuses for the Israeli government -- wants the administration to ignore reality."

more

[Scurrilous]

13. Israel First? - Joe Klein

<snip>

"The America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has done a very unwise thing: It has issued a statement criticizing the Obama Administration, rather than Israel, for its reaction to the Netanyahu government's recent announcement of more illegal settlement blocks in East Jerusalem--an announcement that was made during Vice President Joe Biden's visit last week, an act of extreme rudeness on top of its unquestioned illegality.

This is quite remarkable. I may be wrong--and commenters are welcome to correct me--but I can't remember another ethnic or religious lobbying group publicly siding with a foreign country against the President of the United States...especially when the country in question is engaging in behavior that the international community believes is illegal. Once again, every U.S. President since Richard Nixon has called for a freeze of settlements being built in Palestinian areas, including East Jerusalem, conquered by Israel in 1967. AIPAC stands, with Israel, against every one of those Presidents.

I certainly hope AIPAC comes to its senses soon. But I suspect it wants a showdown with the Obama Administration, which, unlike its Bush predecessor, has stood with the rest of the world in requesting that Israel adhere to Road Map laid out by the so-called quartet (the U.S., E.U., U.N. and Russia), a plan the West Bank Palestinians seem to be taking seriously. This is an attempt by AIPAC to show muscle and force the Obama Administration to back down: Israel has tremendous support in the United States, especially among Evangelicals (who believe that the achievement of a Greater Israel--that is, the annexation of Palestinian lands--would be a precursor of the Rapture).

As an American Jew, I find this extremely embarrassing and unfortunate. This could get very, very ugly."

Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/03/15/israel-first/?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0iJakaQsX