The pro-Israel wing of Obama's supporters has generally been pretty happy with the state of the administration, from Hillary's appointment to Dennis Ross' role with Iran. George Mitchell, by downplaying Israeli settlements and stressing Iran policy yesterday, won raves from hawkish Jewish leaders.

But former AIPAC Policy Director Steve Rosen sounded a more strident tone yesterday at Laura Rozen's report of a new head for the National Intelligence Council, calling the reported choice of Chas Freeman "alarming."

He disapprovingly quotes Freeman, the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, saying, "As long as the United States continues unconditionally to provide the subsidies and political protection that make the Israeli occupation and the high-handed and self-defeating policies it engenders possible, there is little, if any, reason to hope that anything resembling the former peace process can be resurrected" and decrying the consequences of "Israeli violence against Palestinians."

It's not the kind of high-profile appointment that would automatically provoke a broader reaction, so the decision of Jewish organizations whether or not to make a fuss will have a lot to do with how much good will (a lot) Obama has bought over the past two years.

UPDATE: A well-placed pro-Israel source says there's "no amount of good will" that would soften reaction to that appointment because "they might as well have appointed Bandar."