Today ForeignPolicy.com's
Middle East Channel published my post (copied below) looking at the latest dust-up over something Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren said (or what he says he didn't really say) earlier this week in a private meeting about the US-Israel relationship. According to sources in the meeting, Oren said there was a tectonic "rift" developing between Israel and the US. He later denied saying this, clarifying that the word he used was "shift" not "rift." Rhyming words are often the source of confusion, right? Which brings to mind
this classic Sesame Street sketch, with roving reporter Kermit the Frog in London, searching for the London fog, and finding instead the London frog, the London log, the London hog, etc... But I digress.
Michael Oren's curious understanding of friendshipPosted By Lara Friedman Thursday, July 1, 2010
Earlier this week Israel's Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren,
reportedly said that relations between Israel and the US "...are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart." The implication being that there has been a shift in the US approach to Israel, led by a president who unlike his predecessors is "not motivated by historical-ideological sentiments toward Israel but [instead] by cold interests and considerations."
With Netanyahu due in Washington next week for a visit whose ostensible purpose is to demonstrate that relations between the two governments are good, these comments have raised some eyebrows.
By Lara Friedman 
