http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=939188A conservative activist and former presidential candidate has condemned the Obama administration's continuous mishandling of the U.S.-Israeli relationship and for its "outrageous hostility toward the only reliable democratic friend we have in the Middle East."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently told the Israeli parliament that Jewish building in east Jerusalem does not hurt the city's Palestinian residents.
Also, during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit last week, Israel drew angry reactions from the U.S. and Palestine by announcing the construction of 1,600 units in an east Jerusalem neighborhood, and the decision has sparked the worst feud between Israel and the U.S. in recent memory.
Gary Bauer 2 (American Values)Gary Bauer, president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, recently returned from a trip to Israel that happened to coincide with the Vice President's visit. He reports that the neighborhood in question had never been on the negotiating table.
"The Palestinians have never demanded that it be given up," he comments. "What we're seeing here is that Iran is building nuclear weapons and the administration has infinite patience. Israel tries to build homes for its citizens, and the Obama administration goes ballistic."
Bauer believes there is no doubt that this is a manufactured crisis in order to try to weaken Israel on the eve of talks between Israel and the Palestinian authority, "and/or the president is attempting to weaken, and perhaps even bring down, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a conservative and who believes that Israel's national security comes first."
In his speech, Netanyahu gave no indication that he would cancel the project or limit construction in east Jerusalem.
In comparison with Bauer's reports, a leading Christian Zionist says the Obama administration's recent comments are causing extensive damage to U.S. Israeli relations. (Listen to audio report )
Since the Obama administration has been issuing stern condemnations of Israel for approving the construction of new settlements in Jerusalem, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the settlement activity "an insult to the United States," and White House political chief David Axelrod referred to it as "an affront."
Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, reports that current U.S.-Israeli relations are at a 35-year low.
Jim Hutchens (Jerusalem Connection)Jim Hutchens, president of The JerUSAlem Connection, International (JCI), says the Obama administration's attacks on Israel over settlement construction are extremely damaging.
"This is north Jerusalem, not east Jerusalem. This is Ramat Shlomo, which is a part of Jerusalem where Jews have been living, and they've been building there for several years," Hutchens comments. "For the Obama administration to come in and make these kinds of accusations is not helpful towards any kind of peace process, number one, and secondly, it's very concerning to me, very troubling, and I think that many people, Jews, Christians as well, as to the relationship that the Obama administration actually has with Israel."
The JCI president adds that there will not be peace in the Middle East "until the Prince of Peace comes and the government is upon his shoulders" because the goal of the Palestinians is the elimination of the modern state of Israel and an apartheid Palestinian state where no other religion or nationality is allowed.
Topic: U.S.-Israeli relations at 35-year low (Read 2265 times)