THE REAL WORRIES

Steven J. Rosen pointed a short time ago to what everybody who was making a foolish fuss over Netanyahu's speech to Congress should really be worried about:

The brouhaha over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's March 3 speech to Congress is diverting attention from more important U.S.-Israel controversies that will escalate soon after this comparatively minor contretemps fizzles out.

At the U.N., the Palestinians and Europeans will press forward after the March 17 Israeli election, submitting draft United Nations Security Council resolutions that they postponed at the request of Secretary of State John F. Kerry. They are pressuring the administration to join this effort to impose terms on Israel, and not to veto.

In the Iran talks, there either will or won't be a framework agreement by the March 31 target date, and either way there will be a clash between friends of Israel and the Obama administration - either about the terms of the agreement, or about intensified sanctions in the absence of an agreement.

At the International Criminal Court (ICC), the "State of Palestine" will achieve full membership on April 1, opening the way for potential war crimes complaints against Israel. By June, the total VAT and clearance revenues that the government of Israel is withholding from the Palestinian Authority will approach $1 billion. The United States and other patrons of the PA will argue that the resulting debt and unpaid salaries to civil servants and security forces are bringing the PA to the point of collapse. Yet, at the same time, the Obama Administration will be required by law to suspend $400 million in U.S. budgetary assistance to the PA.

But there's always a chance it won't. These kind of topics are just what should be in discussion now if we're to prevent these awful incidents from having terrible effects.