WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is hardening its tone against Israel, but analysts warned Wednesday the tough talk was mere bluster hiding the lack of a viable plan to revive the Middle East peace process.

"You've had three 'no's' to an American president in his first year," Aaron David Miller, who has served as advisor on Middle East peacemaking to previous US administrations, told AFP.

President Barack Obama is now "faced with the default position, which is words," said Miller from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"And the louder they shout, the more there is a paradox. The tougher the words are, the weaker we look."

Ten months into office, Obama has hit a brick wall as his high-profile push to restart negotiations falls flat, damaging his broader aim to improve ties with the Arab and Muslim world.

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