This is delicious. The U.S. is trying to build international pressure against Russia’s occupation of the Crimea, of course, and guess who’s not playing ball? The country for which we veto resolutions in the Security Council condemning its illegal colonization project, for whom we’ve alienated the good opinion of much of the Arab world.

And the U.S. is reportedly angered at Israel for not helping out. From Haaretz, Barak Ravid:

White House and State Department officials in Washington have built up a great deal of anger over Jerusalem’s “neutrality” regarding Russia’s invasion of the Crimean Peninsula. Senior figures in the Obama administration have expressed great disappointment with the lack of support from Israel for the American position on the Ukraine crisis and with the fact that the Israeli government puts its relations with the United States and with Russia on the same plane. One senior U.S. official noted that one of the reasons for the anger in the White House was Israel’s absence from the UN General Assembly vote about two weeks ago on a resolution censuring the Russian invasion and expressing support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. … While the Americans viewed Israel’s behavior as ungrateful, in light of Washington’s unshakable support for Jerusalem in the UN, in the Kremlin and in the Russian media Israel’s action was seen as an expression of support for Moscow, or at the very least a lack of opposition to the invasion of Ukraine. …Adding more fuel to the flames in Washington were public remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in which they maintained their “neutrality” and failed to back up the United States.

I’m not behind the U.S. on this one; I’ve found Stephen Cohen’s comments and articles about the two Ukraines and the new Cold War instructive. But it goes to show, the special relationship works so long as it serves Israel. It’s not been based on an American interest.

Thanks to Scott McConnell.