American Mideast policy has returned to normal.  That is to say, the new normal.       

One of President Obama’s most senior aides has described Israel‘s sudden announcement of plans to build 1,600 homes in occupied East Jerusalem as an “affront” to the US which could undermine peace efforts in the Middle East.       

“This was an affront, it was an insult but most importantly it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “For this announcement to come at that time was very destructive.”       

On March 10th, Promethean Times questioned the political validity of the warm comments Vice President Joe Biden made on a trip to Israel.  Sadly, what seemed like a statement of solidarity with America’s only consistently reliable Mideast ally was just Biden being Biden.  The Obama Administration will continue to regard Israel as an aggressor against the beleaguered and long-suffering Palestinians.       

The Veep’s handlers appear to have corrected Biden’s behavior toward Israel:       

Interrupted in the middle of what was supposed to be a day of love-bombing Israelis with speeches and other demonstrations of U.S. support, {Biden} kept Netanyahu and his wife waiting for 90 minutes into a scheduled dinner before issuing a statement that harshly criticized the interior ministry’s announcement. Biden chose to use a word — “condemn” — that is very rarely employed in U.S. statements about Israel, even though he and his staff knew that Netanyahu himself had been blindsided by the settlement announcement.       

Still, America needn’t send mixed messages.  Many observers expect that very soon, due both to the immense international goodwill generated by Obama personally and also to the absence from the national and international scene of the much-despised George Bush, formerly hostile nations such as Iran and North Korea will be turned not only to allies, but to friends.  The millions of Americans who had hoped that this global rapprochement  would occur both magically and overnight were disappointed, but continue to believe strongly that such an event is “just around the corner.”  When that happy day arrives, the US will no longer need a standing army or any kind of armaments at all, let alone friendship with Israel.      

Promethean Times shares the Obama Adminstration’s conviction that very soon all the nations of the world will be holding hands and hosting tea parties.  However, prudence dictates that the US wait until the International Hosanna Moment occurs before pulling the rug out from under Israel.      

Axelrod explains that America’s policy toward Israel is no longer Kosher: Obama aide calls Israeli settlement announcement an ‘insult’ to the US | World news | guardian.co.uk.       

Smaktakula