Foreign Policy: U.S. v. Israel

An editorial yesterday in The Washington Post opened on a jarring note:

"One of the more striking striking results of the Obama administration's first six months is that only one country has worse relations with the United States than it did in January: Israel. The new administration has pushed a reset button with Russia and sent new ambassadors to Syria and Venezuela; it has offered olive branches to Cuba and Burma. But for nearly three months it has been locked in a public confrontation with Israel over Jewish housing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank. To a less visible extent, the two governments also have differed over policy toward Iran."

The Post noted sins of commission and omission. Obama is dismaying not only so-called hard-line Israelis but moderates. Although Dennis Ross' presence among Obama's senior circle reassures, U.S. policy toward Israel is taking a dangerous turn.