Not even waiting until his meeting with Barack Obama had ended, and with the ringing of the applause of the crowd at the annual AIPAC meeting still in his ears, Benyamin Netanyahu thumbed his nose at the administration once again by announcing additional colonization of occupied Arab East Jerusalem. I guess those meetings with Obama and Clinton really scared him.
Minutes before Mr Netanyahu's fence-mending visit to the White House on Tuesday, it emerged the Jerusalem municipal government had approved the building of 20 new apartments.
The project has been funded by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz, a patron of Jewish settler groups.
The development is planned for the site of an old hotel in occupied East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah area, a flashpoint neighbourhood.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Washington said it was seeking clarification on the latest plans.
But Israeli MP Eitan Cabel - a member of the Labor Party, which sits in the governing coalition - accused Mr Netanyahu of a fresh insult to the US.
"Netanyahu decided to spit into Obama's eye, this time from up close," Mr Cabel was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying. "He and his pyromaniac ministers insist on setting the Middle East ablaze."
Obviously, the failure of the Obama Administration to back up its words of criticism with actual deeds or consequences has convinced Netanyahu that he can push the envelope pretty much as far as he wants. It's no coincidence that this was announced right after the appearance at AIPAC, where scores of members of congress came to pay homage. As long as he, and Israel, continue to have congress in his, and their, pocket, Israeli leaders will feel emboldened to continue the illegal settlement policy, and the occupation as well. Nothing will change until the Obama administration actually uses its leverage with Israel to suspend or cut aid, or take other concrete measures to show its dissaproval. Words are meaningless.