"Israel's Staunchest Ally" pres Obama wades into Palestine-Israel talks.

"Israel's Staunchest Ally" pres Obama wades into Palestine-Israel talks.(AJ).

When President Barack Obama meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, it will be the next in a string of meetings held in the US capital to develop a "framework" for peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Supporters on both sides have been making their case in the court of public opinion, with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in early March celebrating the "special relationship" between the US and Israel, and critics only a few days later suggesting this relationship receives too much favour.

At AIPAC, US Secretary of State John Kerry, whose visit was meant to bolster support for the framework agreement, said he had no illusions about the state of negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. "This isn't about me," he said of his efforts. "This is about the dreams of Israelis and the dignity of Palestinians."

Obama, who had attended previous AIPAC conferences but was noticeably absent at this year's event, recently expressed frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and spoke of the consequences should Netanyahu not engage more fully in the process.

"If Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach," Obama said, "then [the US'] ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited."

Refusing to be pressured, Netanyahu told Obama during their Oval Office meeting, "Israel has been doing its part, and I regret to say that the Palestinians haven't."

In a closing session Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist, called for an approach to Israel more in keeping with US relations with other nations in the region.

"Nothing relating to Israel is quite like the US interaction with other countries," Giraldi said. "Israel interferes with American elections. It has corrupted our Congress and government members, insults and ridicules John Kerry, and its intelligence officers regularly provide inaccurate briefings for members of Congress on Capitol Hill."

Jacobson not only disputed such allegations, but said they were offensive and damaging.

"These kinds of accusations against Israel are pure fantasy and seem to stem from some kind of malice or bias," he said. Support for Israel in the US is not because of some conspiratorial activity but because of the continuing, overwhelming support of the American people for America's lone democratic ally in the Middle East."Read the full story here.