Washington, March 17: US congressmen have rebuked President Barack Obama’s administration for its criticism of Israel over its illegal settlement expansions.
Eric Cantor, the number two Republican in the House of Representatives, claimed on Tuesday that the government’s criticism of Israel threatened US national security.
“To say that I am deeply concerned with the irresponsible comments that the White House, vice president and the secretary of state have made against Israel is an understatement,” Cantor said in a fiery tone.
He also blamed the Obama administration of trying to gain favor from the Arab world by damaging its allies and friends.
The lawmaker meanwhile stressed that any peace talks facilitated by the United States in the Middle East should be based solely on Israeli terms.
A growing number of other US lawmakers from both the Democratic and the Republican parties have also begun pressuring the White House to tone down its criticism.
Senator John McCain, who lost against Obama in the 2008 presidential election, called the row between Washington and Tel Aviv a “family fight,” while Joe Lieberman, an independent senator described it as “destructive of our shared national interest.”
The powerful Israeli lobby in the US, known as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), has also called on its members to pressure US lawmakers to back Israel’s stance in the dispute.
Middle East expert Mohammad Oweis told Press TV that the senators and AIPAC are all using the “scare tactic” to frighten the public into believing that any disagreement with Israel would endanger US national security.
The supposed US-Israeli dispute erupted after Tel Aviv announced that it will begin constructing 1,600 settler housing units in East Jerusalem al-Quds, during a visit by US Vice-President Joe Biden.
US administration officials including Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slammed both the new construction plans and the timing of the announcement as insulting and destructive to peace efforts.
Following the ordeal, US Middle East envoy George Mitchell reportedly delayed his departure to the region, where he is scheduled to hold separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
However on Tuesday Clinton tried to defuse the tensions by stressing that the United States commitment to Israel’s security remained “unshakable.”
——-Agencies