Top officials in the US administration, most notably Secretary of State John Kerry, must have spent Dec. 26-27 in regret and licking their wounds. After all, they agreed to accept the credentials of Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer in 2013. Of course, this came after an energetic campaign and a whole slew of promises by Israel and by Dermer himself. Dermer finally persuaded Kerry to accept him (despite his closeness with senior Republicans) over a private dinner in Washington between just the two men and their wives. Dermer promised Kerry the world, swearing to do everything he could to tone down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to avoid unnecessary spats with the White House, and to create a direct, intimate and honest channel of communication between the president and the prime minister.
This week, that same Dermer was interviewed by at least two major American news networks, CNN and MSNBC, in which he did everything but curse out President Barack Obama and his advisers. His behavior was unprecedented. It was the first time that a serving Israeli ambassador launched a full frontal assault on an American administration still in office, on American soil.
