RELATIONS BETWEEN Israel and its most staunch ally, the US, have suffered a “tectonic rift”, according to Israel’s ambassador to Washington.
Michael Oren briefed Israeli diplomats on the deterioration between the countries ahead of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House early next month.
Mr Oren said the situation had moved beyond a crisis that eventually passes. “There is no crisis in Israel-US relations, because in a crisis there are ups and downs,” he told the diplomats in Jerusalem. “Relations are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart.” His analysis will alarm Israel’s political establishment, which is feeling isolated internationally and under pressure to take concrete steps over the blockade of Gaza and settlement building in the West Bank.
Mr Oren said President Barack Obama made judgments about Israel on the basis of cold calculation, in contrast to predecessors George W Bush and Bill Clinton, who were motivated by historical and ideological factors. He suggested Mr Obama was less likely to be influenced by pro-Israel supporters inside or outside the White House. “This is a one-man show,” he was quoted as saying.
Mr Netanyahu and Mr Obama are due to meet in Washington on July 6th after talks were postponed following Israel’s lethal assault on the aid flotilla trying to break the blockade of Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu is keen for the meeting to be seen as a success after a string of difficult issues ruptured relations. At his last visit to Washington, Mr Obama declined to hold a photocall with him.
The agenda of next week’s meeting is unlikely to prove painless for Mr Netanyahu. As well as discussing the flotilla debacle, Mr Obama is expected to press for further action to allow imports, exports and people to move more freely to and from Gaza. Mr Obama is expected to again raise the vexed issue of settlement construction. The 10-month partial freeze, wrung out of Mr Netanyahu after months of pressure, is due to end in late September.
Mr Oren’s remarks go further than comments he made in March after the crisis over an Israeli announcement of a big expansion in a Jerusalem settlement during a visit by US vice-president Joe Biden. Then, Mr Oren told colleagues US-Israeli relations were at their worst in 35 years.
Mr Netanyahu delivered a robust speech to the Israeli parliament last week, warning that the Jewish state’s legitimacy was under attack and criticising the UN and other international bodies for condemning Israeli policies and actions.