West Bank

Well-known Israel expert Sarah Palin criticizes President Obama’s criticism of Israeli settlement expansion (most recently over Gilo):
“I disagree with the Obama administration on that,” Palin told Walters. “I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people [...]

While in Israel, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee gave an interview to an extremely sympathetic reporter for PajamasTV. Asked about “the Obama administration’s view of Jewish settlements,” Huckabee compares the idea of telling Jewish families not to move to the settlements to American segregation. “We tried that in the United States,” Huckabee says. “We had [...]

Former GOP Arkansas governor, Fox News host and presumed presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is in Israel and he tweets:
I’ll be in Israel this week and touring the highly disputed settlements that Obama and Hillary are trying to stop.
“Highly disputed” is one way of putting it. “Illegal” is another, and “contrary to Israeli obligations under the [...]

Via Robert Farley, Yossi Peled, an Israeli cabinet minister, proposes that Israel stop buying U.S. military equipment if the Obama administration continues to insist on a settlement freeze and negotiations with Iran. The Jerusalem Post reports that Peled wrote his cabinet colleagues an 11-page letter lamenting President Obama’s outreach to the Muslim world:
“Obama’s ascendance represents [...]

There’s no sugarcoating this. Israel is looking like a country that is quickly losing its mind. Consider this statement:
In an interview Tuesday, Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said Israel’s main goal is to “destroy completely” what she called a “terrorist gang.”
I truly truly hope this is empty rhetoric. Because the evidence is accumulating that Israel is determined [...]