US-Israel Relations in 'Very Precarious' Spot After Palestinians' 'Aggressive Action'

The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict reached its latest flashpoint late last week after an Israeli counterterrorism operation in the West Bank targeting Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad terrorists led to the deaths of seven gunmen and at least two others, sparking outrage from Palestinian leaders and a deadly terror attack at a Jerusalem synagogue — and placing the Biden administration in a difficult position.

Middle East experts don't expect the latest violence to devolve into more widespread and lasting warfare. But they say the recent moves of Palestinian officials may expose a White House that is seemingly more sympathetic to the Palestinian plight than it is to any argument coming from an Israeli government helmed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.