U.S. veep wraps up embarrassing visit with strikes, strokes

March 12, 2010 11:26 am 

by Deng Yushan

JERUSALEM, March 12 — Visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden concluded his not-so-smooth tour to Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday, leaving behind a newly renewed but already tumbling U.S.-mediated peace process between his two hosts.

During his four-day visit, the highest level to the volatile region by a U.S. official since U.S. President Barack Obama took office early last year, Biden reaffirmed U.S. alliance with the Jewish state and commitment to its security, prodded the two Middle East foes to make bold strides toward permanent peace and reiterated U.S. determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Yet his originally jovial stay turned sour when the Israeli Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday night, shortly after his warm and "productive" talks with Israeli leaders, that its Jerusalem planning committee had greenlighted a project to build 1, 600 new homes in a Jewish neighborhood in the disputed East Jerusalem, a dramatic development that irked the international community, infuriated the Palestinians, embarrassed Biden and dealt a bruising blow to the indirect parley on which the two sides had just agreed to embark under U.S. mediation.

U.S.-ISRAELI BOND

Biden set his foot on Israel after a year of sparring between the two allies over the settlement issue, a major obstacle blocking the way of the two Middle East neighbors back to the negotiation table.

Bilateral ties were obviously strained when Israel resisted the Obama administration's call for a complete freeze of Jewish construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both of which the Palestinians claim as territories of their future state in addition to the Gaza Strip.

The United States raised the demand with the purpose of cutting a pathway through the Israeli-Palestinian peace impasse that had existed since Israel launched a devastating military campaign against Gaza in late 2008. Yet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sworn in two month after Obama, insisted that natural growth must be allowed in order to accommodate the normal life of the some 300,000 settlers in the West Bank and that Israel has full sovereignty over the whole holy city.

Adding oil to the flame, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rejected an Israeli claim that the previous U.S. administration, under President George W. Bush, who was considered to be biased in favor of Israel, had arrived at understandings with the Jewish state that Israel could retain certain settlement blocs in any peace deal with the Palestinians.

Gaps also gaped on the Iranian front, with the U.S. administration adopting a policy of engagement and the Netanyahu government advocating much harsher measures. To the unease of the United States, Israel has repeatedly stressed that it would not rule out the option of launching military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Against such a subtle backdrop, Biden visited the Middle East ally in an obvious bid to soothe the tensions, highlighting the close relationship between the United States and the Jewish state with remarks as sweet as that the United States has "no better friend" than Israel.

"This is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to security," the veep said on Thursday in a public address delivered at Tel Aviv University, adding that his country will stand "resolutely beside Israel against the scourge of terrorism."

In his talks with Israeli leaders on Tuesday, Biden repeatedly assured his hosts that the Obama administration is committed to Israel's security.

"The cornerstone of the relationship is our absolute and unvarnished commitment to Israel's security," said Biden at a joint press conference with Netanyahu.

NUCLEAR-ARMED IRAN

Accordingly, Biden dedicated much of his visit to comfort Israel on its primary security concern, namely Iran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, repeatedly underlining U.S. resolve to wall off the Islamic republic from atomic weapons.

"Looming over all our efforts in this region is the shadow cast by Iran," whose leadership "flouts the will of the world by pursuing nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism," said Biden during his Thursday speech, adding "The United States is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, period. "

Consolidating his argument, the veep stressed that "the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran is also a threat to the security, short-term, mid-term and long-term to the United States" and that "many other countries in this region and around the world strongly oppose a nuclear-armed Iran."

Regarding the U.S. efforts to engage the Iranian leadership since the beginning of Obama's presidency, a policy that causes Israel deep anxiety as it sees a nuclear-armed as an existential threat, Biden said that Obama applied the new approach "for the purpose of changing their conduct, knowing full well how difficult that may be, but also knowing that if they fail to respond, we will be in a much stronger position to rally the international community to impose consequences for their actions."

Noting that Iran has so far refused to cooperate, Biden said that the Islamic republic's defiance has set the stage for the Obama administration to mobilize the world to impose "meaningful sanctions" upon Iran, which would force the Iranian leadership to make a choice "follow international rules, or face harsh penalties and further isolation."

Biden's latest remarks mirrored recent reassuring comments he made in talks with his Israeli hosts. At the joint press conference with Netanyahu, he pledged that the Obama administration is "determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons" and is "working with many countries around the world to convince Tehran to meet international obligations and cease and desist."

The Jewish state and the United States have long been accusing Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons, a charge the Islamic public firmly denies. The Jewish state has also carried out an intensive public-relations campaign calling for "crippling sanctions" upon Iran and has insisted on keeping the military option alive.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN TALKS

In order to achieve long-term security, Israel also needs to realize permanent peace with the Arab world, paramountly with the Palestinians, who deserve a viable state, stressed the U.S. vice president, as he made a foray into the unwieldy Middle East peace process.

It started well. Shortly after his arrival on Monday, Obama's special envoy George Mitchell, who had been conducting talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials since Saturday night, officially announced in Jerusalem that Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to commence indirect talks with himself acting as the intermediary.

The following day also went well, for the better part of it. Biden held affectionate meetings with President Shimon Peres and Netanyahu, lauded the peace-making measures taken by the two sides, and encouraged both parties to seize the opportunity of the indirect parley and continue moving in the right direction.

"I think we are at a moment of real opportunity," Biden said ahead of a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres. "I hope the beginning of indirect or proximity talks is a vehicle by which we can begin to allay that layer of mistrust that has built over the last several years."

"The goal is obviously to resolve the final status issues to achieve a two-state solution with Israel and a Palestine living side by side in peace and security," Biden stressed, adding that " an historic peace is going to require both parties to make some historically bold commitments."

Yet the positive atmosphere was suddenly swept out when the Israeli Interior Ministry announced its approval for the East Jerusalem building project on Tuesday night, generating waves of condemnation from the White House, the United Nations and across the rest of the world, and amounting to nothing less than a slap in the face of the guest of honor.

In an unusually harsh statement, the U.S. vice president, who came about 90 minutes late for a dinner with Netanyahu that night, lashed out at the announcement, which he said "underscores the need to get negotiations under way that can resolve all the outstanding issues of the conflict."

"The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, 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," Biden said, reiterating his appeal to "build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them."

Netanyahu and his interior minister Eli Yishai later expressed apology for the "unfortunate timing" of the announcement, yet signalled no intention to cancel the decision.

Yishai, a right-wing party leader traditionally opposing concessions on the Jerusalem issue, said that the plan did not contradict an ongoing settlement construction restraint, which excludes East Jerusalem, the Arab-dominated section that the Palestinians claim to be the capital of their future state.

For his part, Netanyahu told Biden that the project was years away from its final approval and implementation.

The Israeli move threw Biden into obvious embarrassment when he held talks in the West Bank on Wednesday with indignant Palestinian leaders, who warned of grave consequences of the " provocative" decision. The Palestinians had already challenged U.S. peace-making efforts in the face of continued Israeli settlement expansion, and they adopted the U.S. proposal for indirect talks reluctantly.

Biden's chastisement of Israel, his blandishments in the West Bank and the Israeli apologies and explanations seemingly failed to work on the Palestinians, as Palestinian officials declared on Thursday that they had decided to put the indirect talks on hold until Israel rescinds its latest construction project.

Later Thursday, Biden travelled to Jordan for the last leg of his five-day Middle East tour, where he was expected to give another push for the intricate Middle East peace process. (PNA/Xinhua) ALM

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