Israel and the US

The past few days have seen a flurry of diplomatic missteps in the Israel-US relationship.But lets not get too caught up in this. The moral, political, historic and strategic bonds that unite these two countries will not be shattered by the unfortunate incident of last week.

Israel's interior minister was totally out of line to announce new construction in East Jerusalem while the US Vice President was visiting in what was in essence a trip to reassure Israel that the US remains an unshakable ally.

But we must also remember that in PM Netanyahu's pledge to halt new construction in the West Bank for a period of 10 months, he did not include East Jerusalem.

The American administration as was expected expressed its displeasure at the announcement.Benjamin Netanyahu apologized, and that should have been it. But subsequent statements emanating from both sides kept the controversy alive.

Unfortunately, the reaction of the American administration was seen as license for Palestinians to take to the streets in East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank to violently protest Israel's decision. It seems that by now the US should understand that they way they react publicly will have a direct impact on how Palestinians react, and almost like clockwork, the US's criticism of Israel will spark violence on the part of some Palestinians.

Diplomacy is, I would hope, now taking place behind the scenes to de-escalate this issue, especially in light of the AIPAC conference next week, where both Israeli PM Netanyahu and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton will be speaking.