The dispute over Israel's plan to expand Jewish settlements in contested East Jerusalem is more than a simple disagreement, says Donald Nuechterlein in Inside NoVa.com. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government will face a crisis if he backs down, as ultra-conservative parties religious parties will abandon him. But in President Obama's view, Israel's unwillingness to accept a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital makes it harder for the U.S. to fight Muslim-inspired terrorism. Can the U.S. and Israel negotiate a solution that protects the interests of both allies? Here's an excerpt:
"Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, suggested recently that the clash between the United States and Israel is a 'disagreement' among friends, not a crisis; The Washington Post characterized it as a 'quarrel'; and The Wall Street Journal blamed the president for this 'diplomatic crisis.'
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