Meanwhile, the Obama administration’s Israel team, led by Jones, Special Envoy George Mitchell, and the National Security Council’s Dennis Ross and Daniel Shapiro, spent the last couple of weeks working with Israel on the easing of the Gaza blockade. Their efforts in shaping the Israeli investigation clearly indicate they do not want a competing international inquiry to pop up.

But if a new investigation does surface, the Obama administration’s quiet diplomacy might have to come to an end…

Either way, the close cooperation of the U.S. and Israel on both crafting the investigation and working on the blockade issue has brought both camps back into the constructive rhythm they lost after Biden’s trip to Israel in March erupted into an ugly public spat.

Even though the U.S. and Israel aren’t entirely in lockstep, “from their respective vantage points, they felt that they were at least able to work out solutions that both sides could live with on both issues. And that’s more how relations have traditionally been,” Malley said.