A MEMO analysis of the British media coverage of the
US-Israel relationship "crisis"
The British media is slowly waking up to the reality of Israel

Finally it seems that the scales are falling from the eyes of the British media and they are seeing Israel for what it truly is; an out of control, rampaging bully. The British press, with a few notable exceptions, rarely pays any real attention to what is happening on the ground in the Palestine - Israel but it seems that they are finally starting to sit up and take notice. This in itself is an indicator of the magnitude of the current crisis unfolding in that part of the world.

Obama's sole option: cut the aid and withdraw diplomatic support to Israel
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has said that relations between the two countries have entered their worst crisis for 35 years. When the Israeli government announced a plan to construct 1,600 housing units in the Ramat Shlomo settlement in East Jerusalem on the day of U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, the U.S. administration reacted with uncharacteristic anger.  Joe Biden, who was visiting the region in order to restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, condemned the Israeli decision more than once and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used harsher language, describing the announcement as "insulting" to the United States.  Clinton spoke on the telephone to Netanyahu for forty-five minutes in order to rebuke him, demanding that Israel reverse its decision, commit itself to discussing final-status issues such as Jerusalem and the borders of a Palestinian state in negotiations, and undertake confidence-building steps, such as the release of Palestinian prisoners and an easing of the blockade of Gaza.

Cameron should be the last to play the "identity" card
With their once substantial lead over the Labour Party now reduced to a bare minimum the last thing the Tories needed was another indicator that it is the party of exclusivists and privileged. If the report from this week's Jewish Chronicle is true, the Tories will suffer more setbacks for two reasons; first, for playing the "identity" card - for which Muslims have been castigated mercilessly in recent weeks - and, second, for openly opposing the conclusions of the UN's Goldstone Report.

Dear Prime Minister, 

As you are no doubt aware, government promises to make changes to British universal jurisdiction laws following the issue of an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni last December have justifiably come under fierce criticism from human rights organisations and legal bodies. Evidence found by the United Nations fact-finding mission into the brutal assault on Gaza last year led it to conclude that Israeli forces had committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. In addition, Israeli military planners had followed a doctrine of causing massive damage, destruction and suffering to the civilian population deliberately, which gave rise to individual criminal responsibility. As a senior planner of Operation Cast Lead in 2008/9, which claimed the lives of over 1,400 individuals, including 300 children, the testimony of the UN provided damning and irrefutable prima facie evidence against Ms. Livni.