A public rift in US-Israel relations under the Obama Administration, nominally centered on a difference of opinion with regards to the Palestinian Unity Government raises a number of questions about the real deterioration in Washington-Tel Aviv ties. This paper seeks to understand the extent of this present right and whether or not it transcends the single issue of the Palesitnian Unity Government. It also seeks to ascertain how these issues relate to the US position on Hamas, which the State Department designates as a terrorist organization.