It's not official. There has been no order handed down, no word uttered publicly, but the de facto situation in East Jerusalem is that the construction of new settlements have been halted. And despite the weak claims of bureaucratic snafus and newly complex rules for obtaining building permits, the reason behind the halt is the Obama administration. For the first time in decades, an American president seems to have prevailed upon the Israelis to alter its policy of colonization, at least, for the time being. The last time Israel clashed with Washington over settlements was during the Reagan administration when then-Secretary of State James Baker revoked US foreign aid funds earmarked for spending on colony construction. Although that action led to some tense times between the government, it did not halt settlements as Israel simply rearranged its budget to put money from other sectors into its illegal construction on Palestinian land. This time, there are no financial shenanigans, no economic shell games, no wink and a nudge. After US Vice President Joseph Biden was blind-sided during a visit to Israel with an Israeli announcement of a major new construction project in East Jerusalem, the Obama administration took off the gloves. We may have to wait for the end of the Obama administration and the inevitable flood of books that will come from its members to find out what Obama and his Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, said to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the construction activity. But it did the trick. Some Israeli officials have claimed that the de facto halt of settlements in East Jerusalem stems from the new demand that various ministries be involved in the decision-making process. That would make sense, perhaps, if the approval committee that approved the project that raised such ire during Biden's visit had met, at least, once since then. But after meeting weekly up until the Biden visit, the group has not met since. That is certainly not a coincidence. President Obama has shown his mettle in recent weeks with passage of domestic legislation that the opposition vehemently opposed. Now, he has embraced the zeitgeist in American and elsewhere in dealing with the current Netanyahu government. A real settlement is a long way off and the US has far from forsaken Israel. Still, Obama has shown that his realpolitik extends to all ideologies. It may be hoping against hope but this current episode indicates that the Palestinians do, indeed, have an ally in the White House. __
