Was it a cock-up? Or was it a conspiracy? In all probability it was a cocked-up conspiracy. By any standards it was an extraordinary diplomatic disaster. The announcement of Israel’s intention to build 1,600 homes in east Jerusalem antagonised the Palestinians and infuriated the international community.
That, by itself, would be unlikely to cause Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, to lose much sleep. But when you manage to humiliate the US Vice-President, who was visiting when the new homes were announced, and cause its Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to say that her country has been “insulted” you are in the middle of a serious international mess. This is not just an outside view. Israel’s Ambassador to Washington has said that US-Israel relations are “in the worst crisis since 1975”.
