(New York Times) Martin Indyk - President Obama's demand that Israel freeze new building announcements in East Jerusalem for a few months underscores the growing divide between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government. At the heart of this disagreement lies a dramatic change in the way Washington perceives its own stake in the game. It actually began three years ago when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared in a speech in Jerusalem that U.S. "strategic interests" were at stake in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - a judgment reiterated by Obama when he said resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict is a "vital national security interest" for the U.S. The writer, vice president and director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, served twice as U.S. ambassador to Israel.
2010-04-21 10:00:13Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive