US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has voiced criticism of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and has demanded that Israel speed up humanitarian aid to Gaza. This has angered Jewish leaders who interpret her stance as not being pro-Israel enough.

It's not as though Hillary Clinton is proposing anything radical and yet you have people like Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News saying "I am very surprised, frankly, at this statement from the United States government and from the secretary of state."

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn is also complaining, he said: "I liked her a lot more as a senator from New York. Now, I wonder as I used to wonder who the real Hillary Clinton is."

Well, she's hopefully signaling that when it comes to the Middle East US foreign policy isn't owned and operated by the Israel lobby.

It looks as though sanity is returning to the state department. The world is looking to the US to adopt a more even-handed approach, not to make the US position subordinate to an Israel-first agenda.

Israel apparently believes that it has the right to dish out collective punishment to Gaza because one Israeli soldier is being held by some Hamas elements. The right answer is no you don't have that right.

The Clintons and president Obama are planning to give the Palestinians $900 million toward the rebuilding of Gaza, in the wake of the destruction caused by the Israeli bombardment.