Joe Biden’s trip to Israel isn’t getting any better. The New York Times cites an unknown “Western diplomat” — it seems George Mitchell or whoever is churning out the Israel-bashing today wouldn’t even permit “American” to be affixed to the blind quote — as saying that the Israelis’ housing announcement put a “damper” on the visit. Yes, when things were going so swimmingly! The Israelis have no problem with on-the-record statements:

Yuli Edelstein, minister of public affairs for Israel, said in an interview that the timing of the housing announcement was not aimed at harming the visit by Mr. Biden. “But it is also very important to make things clear and not to play make-believe,” he said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu and others have been saying loud and clear that according to Israeli law Jerusalem is sovereign Israeli territory, so no special commissions are needed to build within the municipal borders of Jerusalem. There will not be in the foreseeable future an Israeli government willing to divide Jerusalem. Normally our friends in Washington understand that.”

Meanwhile, the predictable J Street and Peace Now crowd is piling on the Obami’s undiplomatic diplomacy, nervous that the spat might interfere with the proximity talks. (At this rate, we might need another party to go back and forth between the U.S. and Israel.) Meanwhile, JTA points out:

On Thursday, according to Palestinian Media Watch, the Palestinian Authority is planning to go through with plans to name a public square after Dalal Mughrabi, who led a 1978 bus hijacking in which 37 Israelis, including 12 children, were killed. Thursday is the 32nd anniversary of the attack. Biden will still be in town. So it’ll be interesting to see if he wieghs in, as he did on the Israeli housing starts.

Any word from J Street on that one? From Foggy Bottom? Morton Klein from the Zionist Organization of America doesn’t mince words: “The record shows that within the PA, few opportunities are missed to glorify a terrorist, celebrate a suicide bomber, or inculcate Palestinian youth into worshipping cold-blooded murderers. The record also shows that all aspects of PA life — the schools, youth movements, sports teams, newspapers, TV, even the names of streets — are made vehicles for honoring and praising terrorism. This in turn breeds more terrorists and bloodshed.” But the Obami think the problem is apartment buildings.

Makes one miss the days when Israel’s “friends in Washington” understood what the nub of the problem was, and, as a spirited reader put it, when there was no “mistaking where Israel stands on its eternal and undivided capital.”