Why did it take the State Department 24 hours to figure out that Israel was the victim in last week's clash on the Lebanese border?

After all, even the United Nations -- where hatred of Israel seems a prerequisite for membership -- absolved Israel of any blame.

It took a protest by Jerusalem's ambassador to Washington for the Obama administration to finally say publicly that an attack that killed one Israeli soldier and seriously wounded another was "totally unjustified and unwarranted." Earlier, the State Department had simply called on both sides to show restraint.

Last Tuesday's incident began when Israeli soldiers cleared underbrush along the border that could provide cover for infiltrators.

As one soldier balanced on a crane over a fence near the border to cut part of a tree, Lebanese forces opened fire. Israeli troops responded with shots that killed two Lebanese soldiers.

UN peacekeeping troops swiftly declared that the soldier had remained on his side of the border -- contrary to Lebanon's claims.

But the initial US response to the incident was decidedly neutral -- reportedly prompting a complaint from the disappointed ambassador, Michael Oren, which led to the second statement.

In recent weeks, Washington has been trying hard to mend fences with the Israeli government, following last spring's disgraceful White House snub of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This was an unfortunate backslide.