Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren is reported to have told Israeli diplomats that the U.S. and Israel are experiencing a “tectonic rift,” not a temporary crisis. “There is no crisis in Israel-US relations because in a crisis there are ups and downs,” Oren told a a closed briefing to senior officials in the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s North America Branch and research division, Yedioth Ahronoth’s Itamar Eichner reports.
“According to the Israeli diplomats, Oren said …’Relations are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart,’” Haaretz said.
“Oren noted that contrary to Obama's predecessors - George W. Bush and Bill Clinton - the current president is not motivated by historical-ideological sentiments toward Israel but by cold interests and considerations,” Haaretz reports. “He added that his access as Israel's ambassador to senior administration officials and close advisers of the president is good. But Obama has very tight control over his immediate environment, and it is hard to influence him. ‘This is a one-man show,’ Oren is quoted as saying.”
Oren told Haaretz he denied the report, which the paper attributed to "five Israeli diplomats, some of whom took part in the briefing or were informed about the details." The Israeli Embassy did not immediately respond to query from POLITICO Sunday. Oren’s remarks come ahead of a July 6 meeting between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama....
Oren told the diplomats that the Gaza flotilla violence had sparked international outrage. "Even our close friends came out against us," Haaretz reported Oren told the closed diplomatic briefing. "Only after some time, when video from the ship arrived and was aired by the American media, did public opinion begin to shift in Israel's favor."
Obama met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Toronto Saturday.
“The two leaders had a wide-ranging and candid discussion between allies that addressed Iran's nuclear program, Middle East peace, the flotilla incident, Afghanistan, the PKK and terrorism,” according to the White House readout of the conversation.
2 comments:
It seems obvious that DC is the last place that change happens. The Tectonic rift is reflected in US public support for Israel wavering and not at a governmental level.
Also interesting that Obama spoke with Erdogan at the G20 boy would love to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.
It would be good if it were true. How's that Nozette trial going BTW? Hopefully he didn't damage US defense as bad as Jonathan Pollard. Nice 'ally' we have there.
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