Biden tells Israel not to strike Iran

Vice-President Joseph Biden made an appearance on ABC's "The View" this past week while he was in New York to commemorate Earth Day.

Aside from his admission that he had to propose to his wife Jill 5 times before she agreed to marry him, he was also asked by Barbara Walters to comment on the situation with Iran and in particular whether Israel will strike the Iranian regime without the permission of the U.S.

Biden responded  emphatically "they're not going to do that" as if he is the ultimate decider of Israeli government decisions. 

He went on to say "everyone from the Israeli prime minister straight through to the British prime minister to the president of Russia – everyone agrees the next step we should take is the UN sanction route.”

Biden tries to frame his answer to Barbara Walters' question in such a way that it looks like  Israel will not strike Iran because it is opposed to a military strike and would rather opt for sanctions.

But, if you read through the tea leaves, here is what Biden is really saying to the Israelis.

"Listen up Netanyahu, you are not  going to strike Iran because we will not allow you to strike Iran." As it stands, this is the official U.S. policy that an Israeli military strike on Iran is not acceptable.

By the way, on a side note, Biden's current view of  an Israeli  military strike has changed from over a year ago. In July of 2009, Biden stated that the "U.S. cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do."

His response to Walters' question just the other day is a clever way of  avoiding answering directly whether Israel will strike Iran without U.S. permission and what would be the ramifications of that decision.

In reality, the Israeli government will have no choice but to use military force against Iran with or without U.S. permission as the threat of Israel's annihilation looms larger each day. And, without the likelihood of concrete sanctions any time soon, military action becomes imperative to stop the Iranian regime from igniting a second Holocaust.

Sometimes you have to dissect a politician's answer  to a question in order to obtain the real answer on a given issue.

In this case, it is clear that Israel is going to have a tough time getting the U.S. on board if Israel feels compelled to strike Iran.

Biden tells Israel not to strike Iran

An Open Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

A  Letter to the Secretary of State of the United States of America

             Dear Secretary of State Clinton:

             We are writing to express our outrage and displeasure at the manner in which the Obama Administration has disrespected our friend and ally the State of  Israel.

              There has not been a crisis between Israel and the United States of this magnitude in over thirty years. Unfortunately, it is not surprising that a crisis has occurred  as the President has demonstrated repeatedly that he does not have a positive view of the Israeli government or the Israeli people. A crisis of this magnitude was an accident waiting to happen given the rising tensions between the two nations since President Obama took office.

            However, you Secretary of State Clinton, are largely responsible for exacerbating a simple disagreement  between friends into a full fledged public crisis that inflamed the Arab world unnecessarily.

            After Prime-minister Netanyahu apologized to Vice-President Biden for "embarrassing" him by announcing a decision to build 1600 apartments in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem where Arabs have never lived, you decided to take a matter that seemed to be already resolved and gave it more life support. Mrs. Clinton, there was absolutely no reason for you to state in an interview on NBC that Israel "insulted the United States" which was completely unwarranted and sent shock waves across the world.

            Unfortunately, your statement on NBC was not the only statement from the administration.  David Axelrod called Israel's decision an "affront" and "destructive" and Robert Gibbs suggested that Israel needed to make more concessions before the crisis could be resolved.

           Several Republicans and Democrats criticized the Administrations caustic rebuke of the Israeli government. Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York, stated that "Israel is a sovereign nation and an ally  not a punching bag." Indeed, he is right. Friends do not "embarrass" friends by publicly attacking them in a public arena in such a ferocious manner when there is a disagreement which is exactly what your administration did to Israel. Other political leaders, like Joe Lieberman and John McCain, have expressed concern that focusing on criticizing Israel will detract from confronting Iran.  They too are right.

            However, the Obama Administration does not seem to be getting the message. Incredulously, you recently stated that "Israel must show that it is committed to peace" and that the "onus is on Israel to restart the peace process."  How can you say in good faith that Israel must show that it is committed to peace?

             Ever since the peace process started in the early 90's with the Oslo accords, Israel has bent over backwards to accommodate the Palestinians even when they do not deserve to be accommodated. Did you forget how Israel gave the Palestinians an unprecedented offer in 2000 during your husband's administration only to have it rejected by Yasser Arafat? Since then, Israel has released scores of Palestinian prisoners who belong in prison; many whom return to killing Israelis after being released. Israel has ceded to the Palestinians significant portions of the West Bank and Israel kicked its own citizens in 2005 out of their homes in order to leave Gaza. Do you remember how horrifying it was to watch Israelis remove other Israelis from their homes often by force with the hopes that peace would finally be realized in the region?

           It is absolutely unheard of  for a nation to physically remove its citizens from their homes as part of a peace initiative. You would think the Palestinians would respond favorably to such an initiative. Well, that's not what occurred.

           The Palestinians to this day still indoctrinate their children to hate and murder Jews. The  PLO Charter to this day does not recognize Israel's right to exist. The Palestinian Authority continues to glorify terrorists. The Palestinian Authority continues to cooperate with Hamas and is still involved in promoting terrorist attacks against Israel.  Have you forgotten about  the scores of homicide bombings  that killed and maimed innocent  Israelis at the hands of the Fatah organization which is led now by Mahmoud Abbas whom you claim to be a "peace maker?"

           We would like to know, Secretary Clinton, when the Palestinians have ever showed a commitment to peace in the entire history of the peace process?  When have the Palestinians ever made concessions to the Israelis? When has this administration ever criticized the Palestinians for "insulting the United States" for promoting the murder of Jews?  We find the indoctrination of children to not be "helpful" either. And, yet Israel who has confronted years of Palestinian violence and years of  blood libels in the Palestinian media, is now labeled by your administration as a peace breaker rather than the party who is eagerly awaiting for a peace partner that is nonexistent in the Palestinian territories.

        We are also appalled that your administration would criticize Israel for building homes in their capital city of Jerusalem by calling it an "affront" but have no such criticism for the Palestinian Authority, who around the same time that Vice-President Biden visited the region, chose to name a square after a terrorist who killed 37 Israelis and an American photographer in 1978. Apparently, building homes for innocent people is an affront but glorifying a terrorist is an acceptable action.   Since when should the Palestinians have the right to determine what is an affront and what is not an affront?

         It is quite clear that your administration is opposed to Jerusalem being the undivided capital of the State of  Israel.  Otherwise, your criticism of  Israel for making a miscalculated mistake would have been temporary and private in nature. Well, we have some advice for you. Pressuring Israel to relinquish its claim to Jerusalem is not "helpful" and is a waste of your bureaucratic time as Jerusalem is not negotiable and will always remain the undivided capital of the State of  Israel until the end of time.

         Notwithstanding the unhelpfulness of attacking Israel for building homes in its capital city, what ever happened to President Obama's belief that the U.S. should not meddle in other country's affairs? Does that proposition not apply to Israel?  Israel has never told the United States how and when they can build homes in Washington DC. Just like  you do not dictate to Britain or France what should be included in their housing codes, Israel should be afforded the same diplomatic courtesy.

         Unfortunately, this crisis created largely by your administration has not been innocuous but rather it has had its deleterious effects. Riots erupted in Jerusalem in response to your administration's excessive rebuke of the Israeli government and some elements within the Palestinian Authority have even called for a third Intifada.

          Similarly as the Netanyahu Government probed the announcement of the building of homes in Jerusalem during Vice-President Biden's visit, we call on the Obama Administration to probe how it could isolate a pivotal ally of the United States and cause an unnecessary diplomatic crisis that has prevented the international community from focusing on the nuclear threat posed by Iran.

            We hope that Israel will never be smeared again by this administration as it was in the last few weeks.

                           Sincerely,

                        The American People


  

An Open Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

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No Criticism of the Palestinians

A day after Israel announced the building of homes in Ramat Shlomo which is a neighborhood in East Jerusalem in the midst of a visit to the region  by Joseph Biden, the chorus of criticism are growing louder by the minute. Morocco has weighed in, England has weighed in, France has weighed in, Germany has weighed in, so has the EU, and of course America has weighed in all criticizing the East Jerusalem Construction Project.

The fact is that Israel has an absolute right to build homes within its legal borders the same way that New Yorkers have a right to build homes in Manhattan or Britons have a right to build homes in London. And, as far as timing is concerned, it would not have mattered whether Israel announced its decision to build homes in East Jerusalem five weeks after Biden's visit, the U.S. would be condemning the decision with as much of an equal furor as they are now in claiming that Israel embarrassed Biden by making this decision to coincide with his visit to the region which the Israelis emphatically deny.

Noticeably absent from Biden's visit was any criticism of the Palestinians. After Biden's botched performance in Israel (See "Biden's Poor Performance in Israel"), Biden went over to Ramallah and hardly made any critical remarks of the Palestinians if he did at all. Instead, he chose to criticize Israel once again for the East Jerusalem Construction Project.

In a joint news conference with Abbas,  Biden said:  "Yesterday the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in east Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin ... profitable negotiations." According to Biden, Israel's decision to build in East Jerusalem was "undermining the Palestinians faith in new negotiations."  In turn,  Abbas urged Israel to commit to peace and claimed that the Palestinians are committed to peace  as a strategic choice.

Biden went on to say that the Palestinians deserve a "viable independent" Palestinian state with contiguous territory whatever that means.

Now, in that press conference, Biden never once criticized the Palestinians for naming a square after a Palestinian terrorist who killed dozens of Israelis. Biden never criticized the PA for using its media and school system to indoctrinate Palestinian children with vicious anti-semitic blood libels. Biden never raised the issue of  a reconciliation with Hamas and the PA. He never discussed the growing influence of Hezbollah in the region or the Iranian threat.

Unfortunately, Biden allowed Abbas to portray Israel as the peace breaker when over the years Israel has gone out on a limb to make peace with the Palestinians only to be rebuffed by two Intifadas, scores of homocide bombings and terrorist attacks, a PLO charter which still rejects Israel's right to exist, a Palestinian media that promotes violence against Israelis, and a Yasser Arafat and now a Mahmoud Abbas who claims to want peace in English but in Arabic who wants the destruction of the State of  Israel.

The fact is that there is no feasible way to have a Palestinian state and a Jewish state living side by side with each other in peace.  The Palestinians will not accept anything less than Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state, which would also include the Dead Sea and parts of the Negev plus the entry millions of "refugees" to flood the Palestinian state. This proposal is nothing short of the end of Israel as the Jewish state which is exactly what the Palestinians want.

For Biden to assert that the Palestinians deserve a viable Palestinian state with contiguous territory that will in all likelihood undermine the character of the State of Israel as a  Jewish State is unacceptable. And for Biden to be complicit in allowing the Palestinians to portray Israel in  a negative light while allowing a terrorist-supporting Palestinian entity to be portrayed as being peaceful and positive is also unacceptable.

Remember when Biden said during the 2008 campaign that the Jewish community has nothing to worry about because he was on the ticket with Obama.

Well, that assurance seems to have gone out the window.

No Criticism of the Palestinians

Biden's Poor Performance in Israel

Vice-President Joseph Biden arrived in Israel on March 8th for talks with Israeli Prime-minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He will be in the region for a total of three days culminating with a visit to Ramallah to meet with  Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.

Prior to Biden's arrival, George Mitchell, U.S. Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process, announced that Israel and the Palestinian Authority will launch indirect peace talks in a longstanding saga of calls for peace negotiations which usually end in a bridge to nowhere as a result of Palestinian intransigence.

President Obama sent Joe Biden to Israel in an effort to mollify Jewish and Israeli concerns that the Obama Administration has not been supportive of the State of Israel.

However, there was another purpose for Biden's visit. On the agenda of issues that Biden intended to discuss with Netanyahu was of course the conflict with Iran. The U.S. does not want Israel to launch a preemptive strike on Iran and instead is focused on procuring sanctions against the Iranian regime. On the other hand, Israel remains worried and for good reason that the U.S. is not committed to ending the Iranian nuclear threat which threatens both Israel and U.S.'s national security. Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, came to Israel a week earlier than Biden and reportedly delivered the same message to the Israelis that Biden intends to deliver that sanctions are the way to go to stop Iran not a military strike.

However, Iran does not seemed at all deterred by the threat of sanctions if sanctions can be procured at all given Russia and China's opposition. And as Iran predicts that there will be a war in the region this summer, rhetoric without action only brings us closer to a showdown with Iran that could potentially cause a nuclear Holocaust. Unfortunately, the phrase "Never again" which was first coined after six million Jews perished in the Eurpean Holocaust, apparently has lost its significance.

Many, including former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, believe that sanctions will not be effective and only military action will stop the Iranians. Bolton stated in an interview that "Israel has just two choices: a strike aimed at Iran's nuclear facilities, or a nuclear Iran."

Personally, I do not know what the Obama Administration wants Israel to do. Wait indefinitely for sanctions which may never occur and refrain from a military strike while watching helplessly like "good boys" as Iran develops an atomic bomb that could be leveled on the streets of Jerusalem.

Notwithstanding the dissent among policy leaders regarding the plan to respond to the Iranian nuclear threat, Biden's performance in Israel has done nothing to reassure the Israelis or the rest of the world that the U.S. means business vis a vis Iran. Biden asserted while in Israel  without much passion that the U.S. is "determined to prevent a nuclear Iran." We have heard this line of rhetoric before from the Obama Administration and it has had little effect in stopping the Iranians or convincing the Russians or the Chinese to join the international community in procuring sanctions.  The time for rhetoric has long been over.  It is now time for the Obama Administration to  get off the media circuit and get to the drawing boards by articulating specifically what steps Obama intends to take to stop the Iranians rather than glorified speeches that have very little value.

Further, if President Obama expected that Biden would reassure Israel and the Jewish world that the Obama Administration is squarely on their side, he was wrong. Biden, who stated while visiting Yad Vashem (Israel's Holocaust Memorial) that "Israel is a central bolt in our existence" also took an opportunity to criticize Israel which is almost like a double edged sword negating the original praise.

Biden rather strongly criticized Israel's building policies in East Jerusalem stating "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem.The substance and timing of Israel’s announcement is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel.”

Here, Biden believes that Israel is a "central bolt in our existence." Yet, he and the Obama Administration do not believe that Israel has a right, like communities in the U.S., to build apartment complexes in neighborhoods within its capital city.

And now, Biden travels to Ramallah where just a few days earlier the Palestinian Authority named a Square after a  Palestinian  terrorist who killed dozens of Israelis according to the Palestinian Media Watch which was published on Imra.org.il's website.  It will be interesting to see whether Biden, who criticized Israel for building flats that will house innocent civilians, will criticize the PA for naming a square after an avowed terrorist or will Biden lavish praises on the Palestinians for nonexistent strides that they have taken to pursue peace.

As long as the U.S. Government sends a message that it will look the other way when the Palestinians promote a culture of violence and that it will carelessly allow the Iranians to continue their nuclear program without immediate consequences, terrorism will continue to exist in the world particularly in the Middle East.

No talks or sanctions will exterminate terrorism  unless the international community starts to recognize once and for all that the terrorists thrive on pacifism, hesitance, and other kinds of passive responses.

Maybe the world already knows this and that's why they are acting to defeat terrorism with kid gloves because in reality they do not want to defeat terrorism the way it  needs to be defeated. Food for thought.

Biden's Poor Performance in Israel