I’m with Jim Besser on this one: I’m hearing from some very establishment — what one might call center-right — pro-Israel sources that the best thing that could happen to the current Bibi-Obama spat over Jerusalem building, would be for it to go away.
As I noted in this brief, Obama seems trying hard to deescalate — wagging his finger at both the Israelis and the Palestinians, and saying the building is "unhelpful," several stops — actually, a lot of stops short of — an "affront", per his aides comments last March, during the whole Biden mess.
So why is Bibi escalating — and why is The Israel Project abetting with robocalls warning of a Bibi-Obama "showdown"?
Here’s Jim, at the New York Jewish Week:
Netanyahu, this (dovish) pro-Israel veteran said, made the clearest statement yet that building in East Jerusalem is none of Washington’s business, saying "Israel does not see any connection between the peace process and the policy of planning and construction in Jerusalem.”
That was “a real snub” that cut to the heart of American demands that Israel and the Palestinians take steps to improve the climate for their stalled negotiations.
And Netanyahu didn’t try to pass it off as a strictly local decision made without his government’s involvement, this observer told me.
Sure enough, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley responded to Netanyahu this afternoon, saying that "There clearly is a link in the sense that it is incumbent on both parties, as we’ve insisted all along, that they are responsible for creating conditions for a successful negotiation. To suggest that this kind of announcement would not have an impact on the Palestinian side I think is incorrect."
That’s more than a few degrees hotter than the earlier claim that the new housing project is "unhelpful." (Israel Project founder Jennifer Laszlo) Mizrahi, this activist said, is “acting preemptively” in a situation that seems to be escalating rapidly.
Doing due diligence, I consulted with another prominent activist on the other side of the political divide who told me the real source of administration ire was Netanyahu’s promise last March not to surprise the administration with such developments – a promise officials here now feel was broken.
And administration. officials may be “more annoyed because they thought they were saying something pareve and Bibi escalated with his reply.”
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