AIPAC Calls Spat a Distraction from Iran

WASHINGTON – A major pro-Israel US lobby group warned that recent US administration remarks about bilateral ties with Israel were “of serious concern,” and urged the White House to ease tensions.

Remarks by President Barack Obama’s administration “regarding the US relationship with Israel are a matter of serious concern,” said the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in a statement issued Sunday.

CALLS FOR UNILATERAL STEPS

“AIPAC calls on the administration to take immediate steps to defuse the tension with the Jewish State,” it added.

The statement came amid diplomatic upheaval between Washington and Tel Aviv after Israel announced new illegal settlement construction as US Vice President Joe Biden visited the region to boost indirect peace talks.

Administration officials including Biden, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior Obama advisor David Axelrod have slammed the new construction and the timing of the announcement as insulting and destructive.

AIPAC, considered the most influential pro-Israel pressure group in the United States, has support across the political spectrum in Congress and routinely attracts senior US and Israeli political figures to its annual conference.

This year, both Clinton and hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are due to address the AIPAC conference, scheduled for March 21-23.

In their statement Sunday, AIPAC warned that “the escalated rhetoric of recent days” was distracting from “the urgent issue” of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

“The Administration should make a conscious effort to move away from public demands and unilateral deadlines directed at Israel, with whom the United States shares basic, fundamental, and strategic interests.

The escalated rhetoric of recent days only serves as a distraction from the substantive work that needs to be done with regard to the urgent issue of Iran’s rapid pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and all her Arab neighbors.

We strongly urge the Administration to work closely and privately with our partner Israel, in a manner befitting strategic allies, to address any issues between the two governments.”

Mondoweiss: AIPAC panicked by Obama people’s `escalated rhetoric’ about you-know-who

DEBKAfiles Our military sources report that the Barak arms list is tailored to a potential four-front offensive against Israel launched by Iran and its allies. It includes systems needed by the Israeli Air Force, certain types of missiles and advanced electronic equipment. During his last visit, the defense minster complained the list had been pending in Washington for more than three months and the sands for a possible conflict were running out fast. He stressed that it was essential for these items to reach Israel before a flare-up occurred. The urgency was such that he suggested that if they could not be supplied to Israel at short notice, they should at least be held ready meanwhile in the emergency stores of the US bases in Israel’s Negev.

… Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened his inner cabinet Saturday night, March 12, to discuss the spiraling crisis with Washington and his first response.

American-Jewish criticism was led Saturday night by the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman, who issued this statement: “We are shocked and stunned at the Administration’s tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem,” he said. “One can only wonder how far the US is prepared to go in distancing itself from Israel in order to placate the Palestinians.”

(Ynetnews.com) – According to sources, both Peres and Barak believe that the incident with Biden was uncalled for, tasteless, and cause seriously damaged ties between the two countries. Last Saturday the defense minister held a number of conversations with Washington and his colleagues in Jerusalem in an attempt to lower the flames, but his efforts so far have proven to be fruitless.