Nothing new here, although her press-room anti-Israel jeremiads do appear to be making some headway. Remember when she tried to put Obama on the spot at his first presidential presser over Israel’s nuclear capability? Just 16 short months later, suddenly The One’s backing calls for a nuclear-free Middle East. Keep at it, Helen. Maybe, pretty soon, he’ll be asking people too to explain to him why Al Qaeda wants to attack America.

Gibbs knows the answer to her question but he can’t give it publicly lest it alienate our Turkish “ally” and Palestinian “partner in peace.” For the brutal truth, you need a grant of anonymity:

With much of the world expressing fury over the raid, the contrast with Washington’s muted response could not have been more striking.

“The situation is that they’re so isolated right now that it’s not only that we’re the only ones who will stick up for them,” said an American official. “We’re the only ones who believe them — and what they’re saying is true.”

The official was referring to Israeli protestations — backed by Israel Defense Forces video — that their solders were attacked by passengers on a ship headed for Gaza with humanitarian aid, when they boarded the ship in what the Israelis concede were international waters.

Thanks to the White House, the Security Council resolution that passed didn’t explicitly condemn Israel but merely the unspecified “acts” that led to deaths on the ship. That was their concession to the actual truth of what happened, and diplomatically it’s probably the best they could have done. As for Helen, I realize that she’s the “grand dame of the press corps” or whatever, but if we’re going to reduce Q&A with Gibbs into a soapbox for the reporters present, let’s dispense with the actual journalists there like Tapper and Major Garrett and send in people like O’Reilly and Olbermann to rant at him instead. What you lose in information you’ll gain in entertainment!