An Interest-based Relationship: Is the U.S. Dumping Israel?



News of this recent development in the "un-shaking" relationship between the U.S. and Israel made headlines yesterday.

In December 2014, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 938, The United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014, strengthening the already deep strategic partnership between the two countries. The Senate had previously approved the bill unanimously and it now goes to the White House for the president to sign.  At the same time, there continue to be a stream of reports on the tension between the United States administration and the Israeli government, with personal insults at the highest levels of government hurled across the Atlantic (anonymously in some cases and ostensibly off-the-record in others).

The majority of this tension surrounds Iran's Nuclear Weapons Program. While the United States and Israel remain closely coordinated on the issue of confronting Iran’s nuclear program, significant differences of opinion remain. The P5+1 group of countries and Iran have recently extended their talks, and, in broad terms, the Joint Plan of Action (the interim agreement) remains in place. In general, Israel is wary of the diplomatic approach; when the Joint Plan of Action was signed in November 2013, Prime Minister Netanyahu called it a “historic mistake,” though the Israeli stance on the interim agreement has since softened.

The most recent heated debate between Israel and the Obama administration—and inside Washington— has been over whether to impose new sanctions on Iran while negotiations continue and what new sanctions might mean for Iran's calculus moving forward. The White House is outraged that Netanyahu secretly organized, with House Speaker John Boehner, to address congress personally and lobby for new tougher sanctions on Iran - something that President Obama asked Netanyahu not to do. One White House official called this move by Netanyahu a "spit in the face".
Obama and other world leaders negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program have firmly argued against a sanction bill from congress, which they say would unravel a delicate international coalition and tank negotiations.

This meeting between Netanyahu and congress is scheduled to take place in March. White House officials continue to urge the public that this hiccup will not interfere with U.S. support for Israel. However I am curious to see how this interest-based relationship will pull through with these new clashing "interests". Can the U.S. and Israel remain as close as they have been despite differences in their foreign policy interests? Or will this will this difference in agenda precipitate an end to a once un-wavering relationship? Further, what does the recent volatility in Israel's relationship with the U.S. imply regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict?