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[Middle East News Service comments: Two of the best items I have seen to help readers make an intelligent assessment on the differences that have developed between Israel and United states. Yossi Verter, the senior writer of Israeli party politics for Haaretz is quite blunt in his approach: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from the United States Thursday with egg all over his face but also with a painfully sharp insight - gone are the days when the White House was considerate about the intricacies of Israeli domestic politics.” The Hebrew headline is even blunter: “Netanyahu has undergone shock therapy.” The choice Netanyahu is offered is simple: ditch his hard right allies, bring in Tzipi Livni’s Kadima and try to find a formula that will placate the Obama Administration or steady as she goes, a course that may end up with an even more right-wing coalition (yes, such a thing is possible!) and to use Verter’s words, Israeli would then join the Axis of Evil as far the US government is concerned.

Senior Haaretz commentator Akiva Eldar follows up with an article telling us that Netanyahu and Obama are at a point of no return. His argument is summed up within his last paragraph: “with America's strategic interest on the line, Bibi's favorite political game (playing the Jewish community and Congress against the White House and the State Department) isn't working anymore. Obama decided his moderate Middle East coalition is more important than Netanyahu's extremist one.” (Emphasis added),The next few weeks will surely be crucial -- will Obama hang on or will he fold up under pressure. One way or the other we may get some definitive answers to the questions raised by Mearsheimer and Walt in their book about the Israel lobby. Has the lobby been intrinsically strong, as those who subscribe to the authors’ thesis contend, or has the lobby success been determined by a temporary (if long-term) confluence of interests between the two countries, as argued by others including the undersigned.

With the approaching Pesach (Passover holiday) and the shutting down of politics in Israel, and my own culinary commitments this News Service will revert to a less active mode over the next four days.

For those of you who celebrate it: Chag Sameach! Have a happy and delicious Pesach!
Sol Salbe]

Netanyahu better shape up before U.S. tensions get worse

By Yossi Verter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from the United States Thursday with egg all over his face but also with a painfully sharp insight - gone are the days when the White House was considerate about the intricacies of Israeli domestic politics.

Former prime ministers used to tell American presidents, "Understand, I have a problematic coalition." This no longer works. Obama is not making any effort to show sensitivity to Netanyahu's distress and worse - he's ignoring it as though he intends to wreak some political chaos here.

"Obama isn't only sticking the knife in," a minister said, "he's twisting it and enjoying it."

See the full article at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1159301.html

Netanyahu and Obama are at a point of no return

By Akiva Eldar
The strife between Israel and the United States concerns something far bigger than the proximity talks with the Palestinians. As far as President Barack Obama and his senior advisers are concerned, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to blame for nothing less than damaging the standing of the U.S.in the Middle East and the Muslim world.

Just as Netanyahu received his standing ovation at the AIPAC conference, Obama and his advisers were ruminating over an altogether different convention - the Arab League begins a meeting Tripoli on Saturday. For the Americans, Netanyahu's Likudnik speech and the Shpeherd Hotel project matched in embarrassment the scandalous announcement of construction in East Jerusalem during Vice President Joe Biden's visit here.

This year's Arab League summit will be the scene of struggle between the allies of Iran and the allies of American, and the violation of the status quo in Al Quds - Jerusalem - has direct implications for the balance of power between the sides. Over the last few weeks, Americans have been giving life support to the Arab Peace Initiative, born at the League's summit in Beirut 2002 and set to be on the agenda this week.

See the full article at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1159300.html

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[The independent Middle East News Service concentrates on providing alternative information chiefly from Israeli sources. It is sponsored by the Australian Jewish Democratic Society. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the AJDS. These are expressed in its own statements]

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