Tom Friedman is ready to throw in the towel on US efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

I understand the problem: Israeli and Palestinian leaders cannot end the conflict between each other without having a civil war within their respective communities. Netanyahu would have to take on the settlers and Abbas would have to take on Hamas and the Fatah radicals. Both men have silent majorities that would back them if they did, but neither man feels so uncomfortable with his present situation to risk that civil war inside to make peace outside…

The most valuable thing that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could do now is just get out of the picture – so both leaders and both peoples have an unimpeded view of their horrible future together in one state, if they can’t separate…

America must get out of the way so Israelis and Palestinians can see clearly, without any obstructions, what reckless choices their leaders are making. Make no mistake, I am for the most active U.S. mediation effort possible to promote peace, but the initiative has to come from them.

Man’s got a point.

Israel’s proposed loyalty oath, a requirement that immigrants seeking Israeli citizenship pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish state, is awful enough on its own terms. That is does not apply to Jews – precisely because many Orthodox Jews immigrating to Israel are anti-Zionist – goes far beyond garden-variety hypocrisy; it’s absolutely outrageous.

Haaretz patiently explains the problem with the picture:

Eden Aberjil doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. The former soldier sees nothing wrong with posting photos on her Facebook profile showing her posing, grinning and amused, alongside blindfolded Palestinian detainees. “The pictures reflect the military experience,” she told Army Radio this week of her online photo album, entitled “The army: the best time of my life.”…

Aberjil’s “experience” is reflective of a culture that has taken root over the course of decades of occupation, one which perceives Palestinian prisoners as subhuman…

The humiliation of Palestinian detainees must not be remembered as the “best time” of any soldier’s army experience.

It’s a sad comment on Israeli society that the newspaper needed make this point.

In my opinion, the pictures were insensitive and it saddens me quite a bit that the young woman doesn’t understand why people are so angry at her. To me, the comments to the article are the really scary part.

Earlier this week I spent a few days in the Golan Heights. Like the West Bank and Gaza, Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Six Day war. Unlike the West Bank and Gaza, however, the local population (almost exclusively Syrian Druze) are not actively seeking to separate from Israel. In fact, Israelis and Druze get along in the Golan. For example, the small Israeli town where I stayed, Nimrod, is just a few kilometers away from the two largest Druze towns in the Golan, Majdal Shams and Masada. I spent time in both towns and saw Israelis and Druze interacting a lot. I also saw Druze in Nimrod. This is very different than what I experienced in the West Bank. I suspect one reason for this is because the Druze in the Golan face the prospect of being a religious minority in Syria or Israel. While they may not like either option, its reasonable to believe that they may be indifferent to Israeli or Syrian control. Its also conceivable that some may even prefer Israeli control.

Last Sunday, I spent some time visiting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, specifically in Samaria, the northern half of the territory. I have travelled all over the West Bank in the past. What made this visit different was that we had an Israeli settler take us on a tour. The purpose of the tour was to allow the settlers to present their version of how Israelis and Palestinians could live in the area together. The most disturbing part of the visit for me was how the settlers I met basically air-brush the Palestinians out of the picture. They did not demonize Palestinians or claim that Jews have a stronger right to the land than anyone else or present detailed ideas for how the Israelis and the Palestinians could live together. Rather, they simply ignored them – as if the Palestinians did not exist. When I raised the issue I did get honest (and hair-raising) responses, but I had to bring up the issue. I am not sure if ignoring Palestinians was a strategic choice or accurately reflects realities in the area (i.e., Israelis and Palestinians live in different worlds). A bit of both, I suspect.

Bibi and Obama were all smiles and handshakes yesterday, but there is lots of speculation that the tensions between the two administrations remain.