It's technically Stephen Walt's plan, from his FP blog. But it's obviously not something he personally brainstormed in one sitting. These ideas have been percolating for years, getting developed informally by anti-Israel partisans around water coolers, in hallways, and at dinner tables.

The pro-Iranian academics and experts behind them - now safely ensconced in the White House - spent the last few years stewing on the sidelines in university departments and think tanks. Since they couldn't spend all of their effort on vaguely anti-Semitic and academically indefensible polemics, they had plenty of time left over to craft an agenda for the next Democratic President. So after many conversations - no doubt punctuated by exasperated hand waving and outraged tongue clucking - this is roughly what they came up with:

The question is: if the Netanyahu/Lieberman government remains intransigent, what should Obama do? Are there usable sources of leverage that the United States could employ to nudge Israel away from the vision of "Greater Israel" and towards a genuine two-state solution? Here are a few ideas.

1. Cut the aid package? ... [T]hat's not where I'd start. Instead, I'd consider a few other options, such as:
2. Change the Rhetoric. The Obama administration could begin by using different language to describe certain Israeli policies. While reaffirming America's commitment to Israel's existence as a Jewish-majority state, it could stop referring to settlement construction as "unhelpful,"
3. Support a U.N. Resolution Condemning the Occupation.... If the Obama administration wanted to send a clear signal that it was unhappy with Israel's actions, it could sponsor a resolution condemning the occupation and calling for a two-state solution.
4. Downgrade existing arrangements for "strategic cooperation." ... such a step would surely get the attention of Israel's security establishment.
5. Reduce U.S. purchases of Israeli military equipment. ... Obama could instruct Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to slow or decrease these purchases, which would send an unmistakable signal that it was no longer "business-as-usual."
6. Get tough with private organizations that support settlement activity. ... Just as the United States has gone after charitable contributions flowing to terrorist organizations, the U.S. Treasury could crack down on charitable organizations (including those of some prominent Christian Zionists) that are supporting these illegal activities.
7. Place more limits on U.S. loan guarantees.
8. Encourage other U.S. allies to use their influence too. ... we could quietly encourage the EU not to upgrade its relations with Israel until it had agreed to end the occupation.
I don't think Obama needs to employ all of these steps --and certainly not all at once -- but the United States clearly has plenty of options if pressure turns out to be necessary.

In order: the Obama administration has gone ballistic over settlements, a quixotic reason over which to detonate an alliance. At the UN, Susan Rice is gearing up to do what Susan Rice does. There are rumors of a massive downgrade in security cooperation, in the form of blocking Apache sales. Private pro-Israel groups have been forcefully told that they have to share space with objectively anti-Israel organizations like J-Street and the Israel Policy Forum.

The White House has been leaking to every reporter that it can find that it's reconsidering loan guarantees. Even a billion dollar aid cut - which Walt hinted should wait until leftist Jewish groups diluted AIPAC's base - has been floated.

So that leaves only cutting off purchases and wrangling the EU. Fearless prediction: reports of European pressure will leak before anything happens with weapons purchases. EU diplomats just won't be unable to contain themselves.

Pretty amazing though. Obama's close knit group of foreign policy advisers - who during the election promised to up the pressure on Israel after years of figuring out how to best do it - are upping the pressure on Israel. Almost as if, given the chance, ideologues will try to implement their agendas.