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Dispute with Israel Underscores Limits of U.S. Power, a Shifting Alliance

(Washington Post) Glenn Kessler - The two-week-old dispute between Israel and the U.S. over housing construction in east Jerusalem has exposed the limits of American power to pressure Israeli leaders to make decisions they consider politically untenable. Administration officials have been careful to turn down the heat in their latest exchanges with Netanyahu over Jerusalem, even as they continue to express their displeasure. Arab leaders have long said that a peace deal would be possible if the U.S. pressured Israel. But many experts say such hope is often misplaced. In the case of east Jerusalem, Netanyahu believes that a halt to construction represents political suicide for his coalition, so no amount of U.S. pressure will lead him to impose a freeze - at least until he is in the final throes of peace talks. "U.S. pressure can work, but it needs to be at the right time, on the right issue and in the right political context," said Robert Malley, a peace negotiator in the Clinton White House. "The latest episode was an apt illustration. The administration is ready for a fight, but it realized the issue, timing and context were wrong. The crisis has been deferred, not resolved."
2010-03-24 09:56:34
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