Eli Lake, Columnist

Clinton: Rice Backed Obama Over Israel on Settlements

An e-mail recounts Condoleezza Rice's support for the current administration's position.

July 7, 2015 at 10:00 AM UTC

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

Confirmation in 2005, before any succession awkwardness.
Photographer: Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

One of President Obama's first breaks with Israel was when he disregarded what its foreign ministry considered an informal U.S. agreement to accept limited expansion of Jerusalem suburbs built on land Israel won in the 1967 Six-Day War.

It turns out this decision -- a flashpoint for Jerusalem -- was quietly supported by Bush's second secretary of state and first foreign policy tutor: Condoleezza Rice, according to an e-mail made public by the State Department last week as part of the disclosure of Hillary Clinton's personal e-mails stored on a private server.