Despite assurances by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday that the United States and Israel share a “close, unshakable bond,” the week-old crisis between the two allies continued to percolate Tuesday.

Washington canceled a planned trip to the region by its special Middle East peace envoy, while its top regional military commander warned that the failure to make progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and the “perception” that the U.S. favored Israel in that conflict were damaging to U.S. security interests and allies in the Arab world and helped al-Qaeda and Iran gain influence.