AIPAC takes it back.

Steve Clemons drafts a satirical press release from AIPAC:

The Netanyahu Government's recent statements and posture regarding major settlement expansion in East Jerusalem and the calloused disregard for the impact of these actions on Israel's relationship with the United States are a matter of serious concern.

AIPAC calls on Prime Minister Netanyahu to take immediate steps to defuse the tension with the U.S. government.

The United States is Israel's closest ally in the Middle East. The foundation of the U.S-Israel relationship is rooted in Israel's fundamental strategic interest, shared democratic values, and a long-time commitment to peace in the region.

Those strategic interests, which most Israelis acknowledge and share with the U.S., extend to every facet of Israeli life and its relationship with the United States.

Unfortunately, a relationship that has generally enjoyed vast bipartisan support in Congress and among the American people is now eroding because of the Israeli government's tendency to allow short term concerns and the incrementalism of its expansion in Occupied Territories to undermine its own long term security interests, its core relations with the US, and the security and safety of American men and women deployed today in the Middle East.

The Netanyahu government should make a conscious effort to immediately move away from actions that would further undermine any prospects for Israel-Palestine peace and a two state solution. While Israel complains about unilateral deadlines directed at the Jewish State, it is time for Israel to ante up on the peace process and demonstrate that it has the maturity to demonstrate that it will cooperate with and not undermine US basic, fundamental, and strategic interests.

The escalated rhetoric of recent days reminds how much substantive work needs to be done -- and how absent the Israeli government has been -- with regard to the urgent issue of Iran's rapid pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and all her Arab neighbors.

Israel's provocative decision and announcement that it will greatly expand East Jerusalem settlements -- followed by revelations of tens of thousands more in process but as yet unannounced -- undermine the chances of securing normalization with Arab neighbors and only add to Iran's growing strength and powers of persuasion in the region.

We strongly urge the Netanyahu government to work closely and privately with the Obama administration, in a manner befitting strategic allies, to address these issues between the two governments.

The strategic patience of the United States is being irresponsibly tested by Israel today, and it is time for all well meaning supporters of this relationship and of global stability and peace to encourage significantly more responsible behavior from the Israeli government in reigning in issues like settlement expansion that make a once seemingly unconditional relationship necessarily "conditional."

Remember, like the Irish-Americans and the Cuban-Americans and countless other ethnicities who came to this country, Jewish-Americans absolutely have the right to contribute their efforts and energies to sending money and support to the homeland.

That doesn't mean it's wise foreign policy to pretend the goals of both our countries are so intertwined as to be unrecognizable; that American taxpayers of all ethnicities need to continue bankrolling the efforts of one country to secure their homeland.

Take the Bay of Pigs and rachet tensions up times 100, and then you'll see what is at risk to Americans today...