Hillary Clinton accused the Jewish state of acting "cocky" during a major 2010 feud between the then-secretary of state and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a recently disclosed email she sent to an aide.
Clinton's criticism came during a period described by Israel's then-ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, as the worst point in U.S.-Israel relations in 35 years, a situation largely attributed to Clinton's own actions.
Just a week before Clinton's email was sent, she berated Netanyahu in a 45-minute phone call. She demanded that Netanyahu consent to multiple demands to preserve the historically close U.S.-Israel relationship.
Clinton's anger was due to the announcement that 1,600 new housing units were being built in a mainly Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem. The announcement came as Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel.
Kim Ghattas, a BBC reporter that followed Clinton as secretary of state, wrote in an email to Clinton aide Jake Sullivan that the Israeli side was "sounding a bit cocky" during a press briefing, noting her belief that it was unlikely that the United States would be able to move them toward an agreement.
Clinton discounted that notion.
"They always sound cocky—in the air or on the ground," wrote Clinton on March 22, 2010.
Clinton had demanded earlier in the month that Netanyahu launch an investigation into the timing of the settlement announcement, reverse the approval of the 1,600 housing units, and make significant gestures towards the Palestinians that would enable renewed peace talks.
Netanyahu met with President Barack Obama at the White House following Clinton's comments and as Ghattis predicted, Israel didn't budge.
Clinton's rhetoric against Israel continued for months following the March impasse. In April, she criticized Netanyahu for making "unilateral statements and actions" and put blame on Israel for "humanitarian needs in Gaza."
Clinton's attitude towards Israel during the March 2010 settlement crisis is directly at odds with the account she put forward in her memoir, Hard Choices. In the book, Clinton attempts to distance herself from the administration's hard-line stance towards Israeli settlements.
Clinton goes on to claim says that Obama's demand for a settlement freeze "didn't work" and that she had "disagreed with Obama and then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on a demand that Israel halt all new settlement construction."
"I was worried that we would be locking ourselves into a confrontation we didn’t need," Clinton said.
Clinton also mentions in the book her belief that Israel denies "dignity and self determination" to Palestinians in the West Bank and describes the Jewish state as an occupying force.
When it comes to escalating confrontation between the United States and Israel, "no one save President Obama himself played such a prominent role in provoking it, amplifying it, and prolonging it" as Clinton, according to the Weekly Standard.
Ambassador Oren said in his recent book on the U.S.-Israel relationship that Clinton refused to have an in-person meeting with him despite his requests during her tenure at the State Department.