On Monday, John Kerry is defending Israel before the U.N. human rights panel

John Kerry and Benjamin Netanyahu, in happier times

(Image credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO via Getty Images)

The growing fissure between Israel and the U.S. is apparently personal, not business. A day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a divisive speech before Congress about the purported dangers of President Obama's prospective nuclear deal with Iran, Secretary or State John Kerry is going to chide the United Nations Human Rights Commission over what the U.S. sees as an unfair bias against Israel. Kerry's "vigorous defense of Israel," The Associated Press reports, will include a demand for "a more balanced approach."

Jonathan Alter at The Daily Beast argues that despite mutual personal antipathy, Obama "has provided more support for Israel (including critical spare parts for the Iron Dome missile defense system that protected the country from Hamas rockets) than any president since Nixon." In 2013, for example — a year after Netanyahu all-but-endorsed Obama's GOP presidential rival, Mitt Romney — "Obama allowed Israel to become the first country other than the U.S. to operate the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most advanced military aircraft in the world." That's something to think about on Tuesday.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.