The WH won't let a(n excuse for a) crisis go to waste.

http://tinyurl.com/ycppdx7
Israeli settlement action 'an insult': Obama aide
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Israel's announcement of plans to build 1,600 settler homes in east Jerusalem was not only an "insult" to the United States but "destructive" of the Middle East peace process, a top White House official said Sunday...But there was no sign Washington was prepared to let go of the issue. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Netanyahu's expression of regret was "a good start" but suggested that the Israeli leader had more to do to placate his country's closest ally...Clinton outlined steps that the United States thinks he should take."I think what would be an even better start is coming to the table with constructive ideas for constructive and trustful dialogue about moving the peace process forward,"...
****The White House protests too much, methinks. The gaffe about the announcement during Biden's visit is being blown out of all proportion by the White House in a planned effort to put pressure on the Israelis about a whole raft of issues. Note especially Hillary Clinton's demand that Israel be "trustful" which is a very strange word. In this context, it means that Israel should make concessions even when they appear to be existentially dangerous. Above all, Obama wants to insure that Israel does nothing to thwart his appeasement of the Iranian nuclear threat and, in continuing fashion, to show the Muslim world that he can extract concessions from Israel.****
///The Zionist Organization of America also criticized Biden for his public condemnation of Israel. Biden’s public criticism violates his own “Biden Doctrine,” as stated in his November 2001 address at the ZOA Brandeis Dinner in Philadelphia’s Adams Mark Hotel, it said.
In that address, then-Delaware senator Biden said, “Why is it that the one ally we have in that part of the world [Israel], that we have the right to publicly chastise them? We would not do that with any other friend... As much as the Middle East is always on our minds, the best thing we can do is keep it off the US and world press.”
He also said that such criticism “emboldens those in the Middle East and around the world who still harbor as their sacred goal the elimination of Israel... It is not for you to tell them [Israel], nor for me, what is in their best interests. We should give them the right to determine what chances they will take.” ****Well, you can't really expect Biden to be consistent in either his positions or his statements. Obama, on the other hand, has been very consistent in his hostility toward Israel ( and, some suspect, even to those members of the tribe who haven't sucked up to him already--some of his best friends are... although it's doubtful that he reciprocates.)****