Israel lobby presses Congress to soften Obama's tough stance on Netanyahu

[laststeamtrain]

Israel lobby presses Congress to soften Obama's tough stance on Netanyahu

American Israel Public Affairs Committee circulates letter urging White House to 'reinforce' relationship with Israel
Chris McGreal in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 30 March 2010 19.24 BS

America's main pro-Israel lobby group is mobilising members of Congress to pressure the White House over its bitter public confrontation with Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

The move, by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), appears aimed at exploiting differences in the Obama administration as it decides how to use the crisis around settlement building in Jerusalem to press Israel towards concessions to kickstart peace negotiations.

Aipac has persuaded more than three-quarters of the members of the US House of Representatives to sign a letter calling for an end to public criticism of Israel and urging the US to "reinforce" its relationship with the Jewish state.

The open letter, which has been circulating among members of Congress for the last week, says that while it is recognised that there will be differences between the two countries, they should be kept behind closed doors. "Our view is that such differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence," it says.

<snip>

A source, who is consulted by administration officials on Israel policy but did not wish to be named, said that having chosen to take Netanyahu on, Obama cannot afford to back away. "The administration's credibility is at stake – in Israel and the Arab world. Netanyahu thought he had the better of it last year after he humiliated the president by rejecting his demand for a settlement freeze. If the administration does not follow through on this, or reaches some compromise that takes the heat off the Israelis, I suspect it will be almost impossible for us to get anything off the ground," he said.

Netanyahu appears to have been caught off guard by Obama's stand, perhaps because he was overconfident of being able to bypass the administration by relying on strong support for Israel in Congress. But while Aipac has been able to mobilise support for its letter, Congressional leaders have remained largely silent on the substance of the dispute.

<more>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/30/us-israel-lobby-pressure-obama

[PDJane]

1. That's the last thing that should happen.........

Israel's stance isn't good for Israel, either.

[classysassy]

2. We need public financing

to rid this country of groups such as aipac.

[Rage Inc.]

3. Netan Yahoo

Is "Likud" the Hebrew word for "Tea," by any chance?

[Recursion]

4. Heh. "Consolidation", actually

In the 70s, all the right and center-right parties got tired of getting their ass kicked by Labor so they formed a consolidated party.