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Israel faces diplomatic wilderness

By David Harris: 0 Comments Print E-mail Xinhua, June 3, 2010

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Nicaragua became the first state to suspend diplomatic ties with Israel in the wake of the Israeli interception of a flotilla making its way to the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the deaths of at least nine of those on board.

[news.cn]

Turkey has also warned that it is seriously considering the future of its relationship with the Jewish state. Ankara gave strong support to the vessel that headed the flotilla, which was boarded by Israeli forces on Monday. Four of those killed were Turks and a large percentage of those arrested hailed from Turkey.

Others considering taking some form of diplomatic action include Dublin, which is watching the situation closely as an Irish ship, the Rachel Corrie, heads for Gaza in a bid to breach the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian coastal enclave.

Israeli analysts told Xinhua on Wednesday that the actions of the international community thus far could well prove to be the tip of the iceberg.

In deep water

The extent of Israel's problems became clear when the Americans refused to veto a condemnation of Israel at the United Nations Security Council. The United States did succeed in watering down the wording though.

The fallout from the maritime operation has derailed the recent improvement in ties between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Gilbert N. Kahn, a professor of political science at Kean University in New Jersey.

"The U.S.-Israeli relationship, which had been seriously strained following the Jerusalem settlement controversy that had erupted during the visit to Israel by (U.S.) Vice President Joe Biden in March was improving," he said.

Now, even the recently launched indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians look to be on ice.

Netanyahu had hoped to meet Obama this week but called off his visit to the White House in order to douse the flames back at home.

"Obama could not have been very happy with Netanyahu cancelling his meeting. I'm pretty sure that Obama had some very strong and decisive words to say to Netanyahu," said Gershon Baskin, the Israeli chief executive and founder of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information.

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