Atlas bifurcated. AIPAC celebrates the Obama administration for describing Netanyahu’s obstructionism on the West Bank colonies as "unprecedented" progress, in Hillary Clinton’s Jerusalem presser Saturday. But J Street is obviously troubled by the Obama administration’s climb-down. It couched its criticism in praise:
we echo the Secretary [of State]’s statement today in Morocco that offers made to date fall far short of the Obama administration’s position and preference. Any settlement expansion is a threat to Israel’s future as a democratic home for the Jewish people and undermines American national interests.
Note the marriage of progressive Zionism and American realism. And speaking of the American interest, J Street reminds Obama of one of the most thrilling statements at its conference last week:
As the President prepares for his first major address to the American Jewish community next week, we flag for him the words of his own National Security Advisor, Jim Jones, who said just last week that if he could urge the President to solve one problem in the world, it would be the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [emphasis mine]
UPDATE: Here is American Jews for a Just Peace statement on Clinton’s cave:
American Jews for a Just Peace strongly opposes yesterday’s statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulating Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on his alleged agreement to limit settlement expansion. This is a direct change in the United States’ call for a total freeze of all Israeli settlement activity, including "natural growth," as expressed in President Obama’s Cairo speech on June 4, 2009. All such settlement building is in direct and undeniable violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
