THE Clinton administration has launched a concerted verbal assault on Israel's policy of settlement expansion, which it believes is drawing the Israelis and the Palestinians back towards all-out confrontation.
Having previously been scrupulous in not placing the blame on one side for the stalemate in the peace process, President Clinton himself signalled the change of tack earlier this week, telling a White House news conference that the declared intention of the prime minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, of adding thousands more Jewish homes to West Bank settlements "cannot be helpful," and that he "absolutely" considered the settlements an obstacle to peace.
What was particularly significant, and extremely unusual, about the president's remarks was that he did not balance his attack on Israel with any criticisms of the Palestinians.
Electing neither to back down tamely nor keep quiet, the Netanyahu government demonstratively hit back. The Israeli ambassador to Washington, Mr Eliahu Ben-Elissar, charged that US support for Palestinian positions would harm peace efforts by making the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, "more inflexible."
It has long been US policy to characterise the Jewish settlements as an obstacle to peace. But while the last hardline Israeli government, under the Likud's Mr Yitzhak Shamir, was able to persuade many Israelis that the then Bush administration's anti-settlement stance was a function of a somewhat hostile basic attitude to Israel, the Netanyahu government knows it can hardly seek to portray Mr Clinton as anything but a staunch and loyal friend. The US president has visited several times, demonstrated a genuine affection for and commitment to the country, and is extremely popular here.
Interestingly, there were faint signs yesterday that the US pressure might already be having an effect, with reports that Mr Netanyahu may shelve a highly- controversial plan to build a 132-home Jewish neighbourhood in the heart of Arab East Jerusalem. (David Horovitz is managing editor of the Jerusalem Report)