First thing's first. Biden is a moron. Trying to reverse engineer his statements is equivalent to using a Magic 8-Ball to unlock prophesies hidden in tea leaves. But just so we're all on the same page, here's the crucial part of that "green light" interview:

STEPHANOPOULOS: And meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it pretty clear that he agreed with President Obama to give until the end of the year for this whole process of engagement to work. After that, he's prepared to make matters into his own hands. Is that the right approach?

BIDEN: Look, Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Whether we agree or not?

BIDEN: Whether we agree or not. They're entitled to do that. Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that. But there is no pressure from any nation that's going to alter our behavior as to how to proceed. What we believe is in the national interest of the United States, which we, coincidentally, believe is also in the interest of Israel and the whole world. And so there are separate issues. If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But just to be clear here, if the Israelis decide Iran is an existential threat, they have to take out the nuclear program, militarily the United States will not stand in the way?

BIDEN: Look, we cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination that they're existentially threatened and their survival is threatened by another country.

Did Biden inadvertently signal that there was a secret agreement between Obama and Netanyahu, trading Netanyahu's recognition of a Palestinian state for a green light on Iran? Yossi Alpher, one of the Mossad's former Iran guys, thinks maybe. The WH walked back Biden's statement with boilerplate about engagement, but Mullen is publicly musing about how attacking Iran is a mere "political decision." And there is that half-analysis/half-preparing-the-public Bolton editorial.

On the other hand: moron. The WH has expended not inconsiderable efforts to box in Israel diplomatically and militarily. Institutionally the administration is dominated by the Iran Lobby. Obama still seems fully committed to appeasement. No one gave Israel a green light for anything.

Biden was probably trying to invoke "national interest" as an explanation for why the Obama administration isn't and won't support Israel. He got a little tangled up trying to seem magnanimous, acknowledging Israel's national interest but overemphasizing it a little too much.

Nonetheless the liberal foreign policy community - the one that spent so much time publicly crowing about how Israel had been put on a leash - went into full hyperventilation mode. FP blogger Marc Lynch: