"Clinton Rebukes Israel on Housing Announcement""In a tense, 43-minute phone call on Friday morning, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israels plan for new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem sent a deeply negative signal about Israeli-American relations, and not just because it spoiled a visit by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr...."Such blunt language toward Israel is very rare from an American administration, and several officials said Mrs. Clinton was relaying the anger of President Obama at the announcement, which was made by Israels Interior Ministry and which Mr. Netanyahu said caught him off guard...."http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/world/middleeast/13diplo.htmlWill 43 minutes do it?In the meantime....."Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Thursday defended Israel's decision to approve construction of 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, saying sovereignty over the capital has never been negotiable and that Israel would not make any more concessions for peace."http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtVty.jhtml?sw=Deputy+Foreign+Minister&itemNo=1155755Looks like it will take more than a 43-minute phone call!And this from Abe Foxman, head of the ADL: "The U.S. based Anti-Defamation League said late Friday that it was "stunned" by Clinton's "dressing down" of Israel."We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States," said Abraham Foxman, ....The ADL called Clinton's remarks a "gross overreaction" to a "policy difference among friends.""One can only wonder how far the U.S. is prepared to go in distancing itself from Israel in order to placate the Palestinians in the hope they see it is in their interest to return to the negotiating table," Foxman said. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1156070.htmlUri Avnery weighs in:SOME WEEKS the news is dominated by a single word. This weeks word was timing."Its all a matter of timing. The Government of Israel has insulted the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, one of the greatest friends of Israel (meaning: somebody totally subservient to AIPAC) and spat in the face of President Barack Obama. So what? Its all a matter of timing."If the government had announced the building of 1600 new housing units in East Jerusalem a day earlier, it would have been OK. If it had announced it three days later, it would have been wonderful. But doing it exactly when Joe Biden was about to have dinner with Bibi and Sarahle that was really bad timing."The matter itself is not important. Another thousand housing units in East Jerusalem, or 10 thousand, or 100 thousand what different does it make? The only thing that matters is the timing."As the Frenchman said: Its worse than criminal, its stupid." Read the rest....http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1268500889