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ow badly have US-Israel relations deteriorated in recent weeks? If Israeli media reports are any indication, tensions boiled over to the point where a phone call between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ended due to "communications problems" earlier this week. Both men have not spoken since, according to the State Department. Kerry's spokesperson, Jen Psaki, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the two men have not spoken since a brief phone call over the situation in Gaza ended because of "communications problems."

A phone call between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was mysteriously disconnected on Sunday, Channel 2 News reports. According to the report, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki admitted to reporters on Tuesday that the call was disconnected, though she said it was due to a “communications issue”. Psaki did, however, say that the two have not spoken since the phone call was cut off. …

Israel was once again criticized on Sunday for an attack on a United Nations school in Gaza, which the United States said was “disgraceful”. According to the AFP news agency, in one of the most strongly-worded statements yet from Washington since the conflict began nearly a month ago, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was "appalled" by the attack on the school in Rafiah. At least 10 people were killed in the shelling, the third time in 10 days that a UN school has been hit in fighting. "The United States is appalled by today's disgraceful shelling...

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said her department was “deeply troubled” by Israel’s strike on a Gaza power plant, continuing an ongoing trend of Kerry’s State Department obliquely criticizing Israel’s actions. “We’re deeply troubled by the humanitarian impact of reduced electricity in Gaza,” Psaki told reporters, “particularly for emergency services, and urge all parties to respect the civilian nature of these facilities.”

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki says she has become a Twitter meme in Russian circles because she is a woman, claiming they "have a bit of a tendency to focus on the outfits I’m wearing and the colors I’m wearing." Psaki accused Russian outlets like Russia Today of sexism and spreading false rumors that she was fired from the State Department because she has not been at the podium lately. (Psaki's deputy Marie Harf conducted the State Department daily press briefing all last week.) Russia Today responded, saying the shots fired at Psaki on Twitter from Russians are for the...

The State Department on Thursday condemned the stoning of death of a Pakistani woman and other violence against women “in the name of tradition and honor,” but made no reference to religion as a factor. […] “Tragically, this was at least the third reported so-called honor killing in Pakistan this week,” said department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, reacting to the killing of a pregnant 25-year-old, stoned to death outside a Lahore courthouse by members of her own family for marrying against their wishes. “We remain very concerned about violence against women and girls that takes place around the world, including in...

May 29, 2014 Reporters Openly Mocked the U.S. State Department’s Spokeswoman Today Bryan Preston Whatever US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki is trying to sell, she’ll have no buyers among the Washington press corps. Psaki tried arguing that President Obama “doesn’t give himself enough credit” for his foreign policy triumphs.Reporters asked a sensible question in response: What on earth are you talking about? When does this president not give himself enough credit?One reporter even asked Psaki how much credit she would give the president. Answer: A lot.As the conversation devolves into farce, this exchange happened. Q: I mean — I...

In one of the clearest statements by the White House that they are completely engulfed in their own worldview, the State Department on Sunday cited both Daily Kos and Think Progress while defending Secretary of State John Kerry's offensive apartheid statement. This previous Friday, Mr. Kerry stated that Israel risked becoming an "apartheid state" if they did not give in to Palestinian demands during peach talks between the two groups. The State Department quickly went on defense to protect the asinine statements. Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, tweeted out two articles in which other people had warned that...

I’m afraid I can’t ease your jitters over the  Russia/Ukraine situation. Once you’ve turned your diplomatic channels over to social media, the situation is more or less out of your control. Reducing diplomacy to 160 characters may not be as effective as you’d hoped. There’s fighting words, if I’ve ever heard any. Butt here’s something I can report on that’s sure to put your weekend mind at ease: apparently there is “no truth” to the vicious rumor that NBC hired a shrink to find out why David Gregory is so unlikable and the ratings of “Meet the Press” have plummeted...

Russian leader Vladmir Putin sent in troops and tanks to invade neighboring Ukraine and the Obama administration is coming to the rescue with . . . selfies! State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was mocked Thursday after posting a photo of herself on Twitter holding a sign that read #United­For­Ukraine @State­Dept­Spox.” Psaki, who has worked closely with President Obama since his 2008 campaign and is the chief communications adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, is smiling and giving a thumbs-up in the photo. But the cheerleading for beleaguered Ukraine wasn’t trending or scaring off bully Putin, said critics in the blogosphere. “Presenting...

Discrimination against visiting Arab-Americans is primary reason Israel ineligible for a program allowing Israeli tourists into the U.S. without visas. Discrimination against visiting Arab-Americans is the primary reason Israel is not eligible for a program allowing Israeli tourists in to the United States without visas, the Obama administration said. “The Department of Homeland Security and State remain concerned with the unequal treatment that Palestinian Americans and other Americans of Middle Eastern origin experience at Israel’s border and checkpoints, and reciprocity is the most basic condition of the Visa Waiver Program,” Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said March 21 in...

The official blog of U.S. Department of State has published a vitriolic post, slamming Turkey's blocking of Twitter as '21st century book burning.' "Every day, governments around the world devote precious resources to Internet censorship. It is 21st Century book-burning -- and it doesn’t make anyone stronger. This brand of suppression affects all of us: In an era in which the Internet serves as the world’s community forum, censorship anywhere is a threat to freedom of speech everywhere," Douglas Frantz, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, has written on the the State Department's official blog, Dipnote, March 21. "Sometimes even our...

The State Department on Monday once again went out of its way to state that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is “staunchly opposed” to boycotts against Israel. “We are absolutely opposed, we have been opposed to any attempts at boycotts—boycotting Israel,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news briefing, a day after taking to Twitter to stress that Kerry did not mean to threaten Israel when he said at the Munich Security Conference that the Jewish state will face boycotts if peace talks fail. […] She also said that Kerry “has had a 100 percent...

The Persian Triangle Clifford D. May On November 24, 2013, a “Joint Plan of Action” was concluded in Geneva by Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council—the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China—as well as Germany. “We have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear program,” President Obama exulted. This agreement, added Secretary of State John Kerry, will ensure that Iran “cannot build a nuclear weapon.” Their confidence was not universally shared. “This deal appears to provide the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism with billions of dollars in exchange for cosmetic concessions that...

The UN has invited Iran to the Peace Conference on Syria in Geneva on January 22 . It was confirmed last night by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki -moon, who stressed the potential positive role of Tehran in the future transition in Syria. The decision, however, has been challenged by the anti-Assad opposition that threatens a boycott of the conference, as well as by the United States : they have set support for points set out in Geneva in 2012 as a condition for participation. If Iran were to accept more than 40 countries will be present at the...

As PM demands that Washington keep up the economic pressure on Tehran, Kerry prepares to ward off new sanctions bills Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday fired another volley in what has turned into an ongoing, very public war of words with the Obama administration, saying that from what he had seen of a proposed interim solution to the Iranian nuclear standoff, the terms would allow Tehran to advance toward an atomic weapons capability while throwing off the yoke of economic sanctions. “Israel prefers a diplomatic option to other options, but we demand a real diplomatic solution in order to...

TIME Magazine reports that Egyptians "remain convinced that President Obama is backing the Muslim Brotherhood and deposed President Mohamed Morsi." Speaking on August 22, the head of Egypt's Social Democratic Party Mohamed Abou El-Ghar said: "America is losing Egypt... There is a very strong perception that they are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and they are against other parties." El-Ghar said this perception began growing when Senator John McCain (R-AZ) met with representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood in February 2012 but would not meet with with representatives from other parties. He said the perception "was furthered" when U.S. Ambassador to Egypt...

The United States said on Thursday that it was against Israeli approval of new Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria. The comments were made hours after it was reported that the Civil Administration has authorized construction of 878 housing units in Judea and Samaria. The units were approved for towns in the Binyamin region, the Jordan Valley, and Gush Etzion. Speaking to reporters, State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded when asked about the new construction, "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity and opposes any efforts to legitimize settlement outposts." She added that Washington had...

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plan to meet here in Washington with their Russian counterparts on Friday for a day of talks that could determine the fate of a September summit meeting between President Obama and the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. State Department officials on Tuesday afternoon confirmed the meeting with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergei K. Shoigu, the defense minister. Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said the four officials would discuss “a number of pressing bilateral and global issues.” “There’s a lot to discuss,´´Ms. Psaki said.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told Matt Lee of the Associated Press Tuesday that the U.S. had “determined that we do not need to make a determination” over whether or not the ousting of Mohamed Morsi in Egypt was a coup. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) called it a coup Tuesday, but the Obama administration has deliberately avoided using the word: