In the fight over Jewish settlements, who are Israel's real friends?

[Joanne98]

When Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on March 8, seeking to smooth U.S. ties with the Netanyahu government and jump-start peace talks, he began by reaffirming America’s “absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel’s security.” The nearly simultaneous announcement by Israel that it plans to build another 1,600 homes in disputed East Jerusalem was not the warm embrace he was expecting.


Biden’s riposte — that Israel’s actions threaten U.S. interests in the region and possibly endanger U.S. military forces there — was a rare public admission that U.S. and Israeli interests are not identical. And the predictable accusations that followed the slap heard ’round the world have exposed a growing rift in the “pro-Israel” community in the United States, between supporters of a two-state solution and defenders of the status quo.


On one side stands the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose annual conference begins Sunday, along with other hard-line groups such as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Anti-Defamation League. Over the past week, they’ve questioned the Obama administration’s handling of the dispute and portrayed the president as insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state.


On the other side are equally pro-Israel groups such as J Street and Americans for Peace Now, which have defended the administration’s position and called for firm U.S. leadership to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100323/OPINION16/100322026/1004/OPINION/In-the-fight-over-Jewish-settlements--who-are-Israel-s-real-friends