Clinton Confronts Mideast Status Quo

WASHINGTON - United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered reassurance on Monday to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that the Barack Obama administration's "commitment to Israel's security and Israel's future is rock solid", while echoing the words of warning issued by General David Petraeus and Vice President Joe Biden.

Clinton's address at the annual conference of AIPAC - a powerful pro-Israel lobby group - comes as the US and Israel are entering the third week of one of the worst bilateral crises since 1975, as the Israeli ambassador, Michael Oren, reportedly described it on March 13.