Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made a difficult decision this week. His government was about to advance plans for the construction of nearly 3,200 housing units in West Bank settlements. The Biden administration was furious, far more so than Israel had anticipated, and as reflected in an angry Oct. 26 phone conversation between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Minister Benny Gantz. And then, as if on cue, an opportunity arose for Bennett to douse the flames: A strike broke out at the offices of the Civil Administration, casting doubt on prospects of convening its Supreme Planning Council charged with approving construction in the settlements.

Bennett deliberated for several hours, and then instructed his Chief of Staff Tal Gan-Zvi to do whatever it took to end the strike so that the council could convene. It worked. The council met and advanced the plans for the housing units, many of which had already been given initial green light under the government of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bennett did not blink. Next week, his government will approve the construction of over 1,000 housing units for Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank in order to maintain the fragile balance between the two halves of his complex coalition — the right-wing pro-settlement parties and the center-left settlement opponents. Despite US pressure and the high-level protest, Bennett walked into the storm with his head held high and emerged in one piece.

Every honeymoon, successful though it may be, comes to an end. This is what Israel’s newbie premier is discovering these days at particularly inopportune timing, just days before the crucial Knesset vote on the state budget, which will make or break his government. Israeli legislation considers the vote on the budget as a vote of confidence in the government.

While the crisis with the United States was to be expected, given the deep disagreements between the sides, its intensity and timing set off reverberations in both the political and diplomatic arenas. “None of us had any illusions,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “The Biden administration is not the Trump administration. Under [former President Donald] Trump, the chief lobbyist for construction in the settlements was Trump’s Ambassador [to Israel] David Friedman. That’s in the past. The current administration views settlements as an obstacle to peace. Period. That is their position in principle. They have to accept our constraints and we have to recognize theirs.”