Administration Official: US Will Stand with Israel

[Clio the Leo]

Awww ... bwess Israel and their poor, pea-pickin' wittle hearts! We dont want to hurt their feewings! (good grief!)

Official: US Will Stand with Israel
June 01, 2010 7:31 AM

I’m told there won’t be any daylight between the US and Israel in the aftermath of the incident on the flotilla yesterday, which resulted in the deaths of 10 activists.

Regardless of the details of the flotilla incident, sources say President Obama is focused on what he sees as the longer term issue here: a successful Mideast peace process.

“The president has always said that it will be much easier for Israel to make peace if it feels secure,” a senior administration official tells ABC News.

The suggestion is that US condemnation of Israel would further isolate that country, and make further peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians even more difficult.

The senior administration official says that President Obama spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu three times on Monday. Mr. Obama pushed the notion that last night – as the United Nations Security Council met to issue a statement about the incident – was the moment when the US had maximum leverage, that the longer the statement was being debated the worse it would ultimately be for Israel.

Ultimately, as the statement was negotiated over night, the US succeeded in making it more neutral where other nations wanted it to criticize and condemn Israel.

The statement expresses that the "Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting form the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza,” but more generally condemns "those acts which resulted in the loss” of lives – leaving matters of blame vague.

The US also pushed for language conveying that it’s acceptable for the Israelis to conduct their own investigation into the matter as long as the investigation is “prompt, impartial, credible and transparent.” Other countries were pushing for an independent investigation, perhaps by the UN itself.

-Jake Tapper

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/06/official-us-will-stand-with-israel.html

[WeDidIt]

1. And Obama has lost me...

[freddie mertz]

7. Did you really expect anything different?

This is what always happens.

[WeDidIt]

8. Yes, actually. I did. n/t

[freddie mertz]

12. I honor you for your forthrightness on this. Sincerely.

I too had hoped that the new administration would be stronger on this issue.

And there was some evidence that they were taking a harder line with Israel regarding the settlements.

But in the end, with both parties, domestic politics always trumps principle when it comes to that particular conflict.

And as elections draw closer, I expected them to behave in just this (disgraceful) manner.

I wish I had been wrong.

[Catherina]

13. Me too. I'm grateful for your honesty and sincerity n/t

[OneBlueSky]

14. he lost me a long time ago . . . n/t

[NJmaverick]

21. Sadly I don't think the President has much of a choice

Israel enjoys immense popularity in this nation (my belief is much of that comes from ignorance of what is actually going on over there). As long as the people overwhelmingly support Israel, what option does any President have?

[VMI Dem]

2. Liberally pragmatic.

[global1]

3. Here's How I'm Seeing It......

Obama tells Netanyahu - You guys really screwed up this time so here's what we're gonna do. We'll save your ass in the UN this time only if you cooperate now so we can come to a 'Peace Accord'. Otherwise Ben - you're on your own.

[Clio the Leo]

4. Ok Bunny Foo Foo, we'll give you ONE more chance!

;)

[ZombieHorde]

5. I don't believe that. I believe Israel can just do whatever they want.

Religion removes logic.

[WeDidIt]

9. Agreed. n/t

[Soylent Brice]

16. +brazillion gajillion times 2 plus infinite. n/t

[hulka38]

19. That is not how this is going to work.

Israel is threatening to use even more force on the next aid flotilla and they're not bluffing. The U.S. Congress is Israel's bitch and we have a president who is completely conflict averse when dealing with large powerful interest groups and AIPAC is King Kong. The simple fact is that another international massacre by Israel will not fundamentally change the relationship between the two. Israel knows this and that is all that matters strategically.

[ladjf]

6. Why? nt

[flpoljunkie]

10. Don't quite get why U.S. and U.N. 'deeply regret' something they had no part of. It's Israel who

ought to be expressing 'deep regret' for the bungling and unnecessary loss of life in this sorry episode.

[Jennicut]

11. Obama is caught between trying to start a peace process and Israel's complete inability

to see they are just bringing it all on themselves. To me, as long as Bibi is in power, there is nothing Obama can do to help the situation other then to treat Bibi like the idiot he is. Ignore him. Israel needs to get that having that RW monster in charge is horrible for their country.

[harun]

17. Ditto.

Big difference between the RW extremists running the show and the will of the people running the show.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

15. Bullies should be expelled but sadly they are not

[ProSense]

18. Source: Hillary asking foreign leaders to `dial down' criticism of Israel

Source: Hillary asking foreign leaders to `dial down' criticism of Israel

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been privately asking foreign leaders to "dial down" criticism of Israel until all the facts of the flotilla attack are known, according to a source who personally discussed the matter with her.

"She says she's been working the phones for last 24 hours trying to get people to cool off a little bit, to see what the facts are," the source tells me, adding that she said she was trying to "dial down some of the rhetoric of the inernational community."

"It's difficult," the source adds. "She says people are furious."

Such calls are not unexpected, but they provide a glimpse into how awkward a position the U.S. knows it's in now that global criticism of Israel's attack is mounting, since it's coming at a moment when the Obama administration was hoping to do a "kiss and make up" session with Netanyahu.

more

[jesus_of_suburbia]

20. Is she representing Barack?

[LittleBlue]

22. What a weakling he has become

No spine to stand up in the face of humanitarians being gunned down. His spinelessness is embarrassing.