'Forum of seven' holds late-night session to discuss Israeli response to U.S. demands

The government's top seven ministers deliberated late into the night yesterday over Israel's response to the demands put forth by the Obama administration regarding construction in East Jerusalem and the future of the peace process.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had anticipated an official reply to the demands from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as early as yesterday, but none was forthcoming.

Israeli diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said a further delay in responding to Clinton could exacerbate the rift between the two countries. They said it may compel U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to cancel a scheduled meeting with Netanyahu in Washington next week.

The "forum of seven ministers" was unanimous in agreeing on the need to resolve the crisis with the United States. Still, a majority of the ministers expressed serious reservations over Clinton's demands, including the cancellation of the Ramat Shlomo housing plan in East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu will make every effort to formulate an Israeli response that will be both agreeable to the ministers and mollify the Obama administration.

During their telephone conversation late Tuesday, Biden failed to persuade Netanyahu to agree to the administration's demands. "There was a difficult air to the conversation, and it ended with no results and no agreements," a senior official in Jerusalem said.

The American administration said yesterday that it was still waiting for a reply from Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, Clinton departed for Moscow yesterday to participate in a conference of the Quartet for Mideast peace. Washington has made clear that it would behoove Israel to submit a response before the Quartet convenes its meeting tomorrow.

The U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, delayed his visit to the region this week due to the rift, though Mitchell is now considering whether to arrive on Sunday to advance indirect "proximity talks" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to Washington on Sunday for pro-Israel lobby AIPAC's annual conference. An Israeli diplomatic source said the Americans are considering a high-level boycott of the prime minister - namely, no meeting with either Biden or Clinton - if he fails to issue an official reply to Clinton's demands by tomorrow.

U.S. President Barack Obama will not be in Washington during Netanyahu's visit.

Officials at the Israeli embassy in Washington denied that an ultimatum was issued and expressed confidence that ultimately the premier would sit down with Biden and Clinton as scheduled.

"We're still looking forward to a response," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. "It hasn't happened yet. There hasn't been a call yet."

Toner said the United States had not set a deadline for an Israeli reply, but expected Clinton to receive it soon.

Netanyahu sought yesterday to ease tensions with the administration. After his brother-in-law, Hagai Ben-Artzi, called the president an "anti-Semite" in an interview with Army Radio, the premier quickly released a statement disavowing those remarks.

"I have a deep appreciation for President Obama's commitment to Israel's security, which he has expressed many times," Netanyahu said.

Just prior to the ministerial meeting last night, French President Nicolas Sarkozy telephoned Netanyahu, urging him to move the peace process forward and to undertake gestures toward the Palestinian Authority.

Netanyahu met in Jerusalem yesterday with visiting European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton. The prime minister told Ashton that the timing of the announcement of Israel's building plan in East Jerusalem was a "bureaucratic mishap" and that an absolute majority of Israelis view the Jewish Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, as well as other Jewish areas of Jerusalem, as a part of Israel under the terms of any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

"This neighborhood is located five minutes from the prime minister's office," Netanyahu told Ashton.

The premier said that the Interior Ministry Planning and Building Committee which approved the neighborhood did not view their action as controversial given the consensus view of Jewish neighborhoods in the capital.

Dems stuck between Israel and Obama

The crisis between Israel and the United States showed no signs of abating yesterday and pro-Israeli organizations began to roll out advocacy campaigns.

Supporters of the Israel Project sent the administration, Congress and the media some 27,000 letters as of yesterday, responding to a call issued by AIPAC.

On the other side of the political map, leftist Jewish lobby J Street launched a campaign yesterday in support of Obama.

On Capitol Hill, the first circumspect comments began to emanate from congressmen, with Democrats trying to steer clear of criticizing their administration.

Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs said that "the Israeli leadership needs to get this right and put a system in place so it won't happen again," before adding that "we should disentangle bilateral relations from the peace process."

Fellow Democrat Anthony Wiener was more direct, saying: "Israel is a sovereign nation and an ally, not a punching bag. Enough already."

"I think we're through the worst of it, and AIPAC will make every effort to ensure people won't boo Hillary Clinton at their next conference," said David Makovsky, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Some good can actually come out of the crisis, with Joe Biden becoming a mediator between Obama and Netanyahu, since he is trusted by both sides. This can be done despite that embarrassing incident."

Israel also took flak yesterday from King Abdullah II of Jordan. The king accused Israel of trying to empty Jerusalem of its Muslim and Christian residents. At a meeting with Ashton, Abdullah said that "Jerusalem is a red line," and called on the international community to take unequivocal action.

Meanwhile, Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel denied to Minority Whip Republican Eric Cantor that Biden had said in closed talks with Netanyahu that Israeli insistence on settlement expansion was putting American soldiers at risk.

Senior United Nations officials reported serious difficulties in talks between Israel and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday as well. Ban, due to arrive in Israel on Sunday, had criticized the housing project in Ramat Shlomo and sources close to him described him as angry and frustrated.

"He's going to Israel with quite a lot on his mind," a senior UN official told Haaretz. "In talks in Israel he intends to give some not-too diplomatic expression of his anger and concern with the policy of closures and the economic boycott of Gaza."