i don't get why everyone is making a big deal about this alleged secret oral agreement between the bush administration and israel that supposedly gave the israelis permissions to expand existing settlements. it's not clear that such a thing even existed, but let's assume that it did. so what? it wasn't a treaty ratified by congress. at best this was an executive agreement, which doesn't have the force of law and can be changed by the executive at any time.
so even if president bush had made a secret promise to the israelis, that promise isn't binding on president obama. it is simply irrelevant. in fact, all that obama is really doing is insisting that the israelis actually follow the bush administration's official policy. bush's "road map to peace" required a complete freeze on settlement expansion, including "natural growth". the israeli government adopted the road map and then ignored the bits they didn't like. the bush administration may have looked the other way when it came to israeli non-compliance with their own peace plan, but there's no reason the new administration has to. sure, it's a new approach. but that's why elections matter.
