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White House Working to Publicly Mend Fences with Israel

(New York Times) Julie Hirschfeld Davis - The White House is working to publicly mend fences with Prime Minister Netanyahu and demonstrate its support for Israel, including by sending Vice President Biden to speak at an Israeli Independence Day celebration in Washington on Thursday. "This administration is nothing if not pragmatic," said Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to Israel and Egypt who is now a professor at Princeton. "There was a moment in the midst of this where you wonder if anger was replacing policy, but they came to their senses and said, 'O.K., anger is not a policy, now we've made our point, it's time to move on.'" Biden's appearance on Thursday is at an event hosted by Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and close confidant of Netanyahu, whom the White House blamed for orchestrating Netanyahu's address to Congress denouncing the president's emerging deal with Iran. The change in tone reflects a sense among some senior members of the administration that the public feuding with Netanyahu had become excessive and unseemly, threatening to undermine efforts to build support for a potential Iran deal. "It makes good sense and it's encouraging that they're pivoting back to language that underscores the shared interests we have with Israel," said Josh Block, president of the Israel Project. "On the other hand, the problem with the administration's approach to the Middle East and to Israel is not just one of rhetoric; it's a problem of substance."
2015-04-24 00:00:00
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