Biden was the guy who bridged differences created by the mutual distrust between Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency spoke with half a dozen people who saw the Biden-Israel relationship up close during the years that Biden served under Obama as vice president.
What emerges is a picture of a man who did little to innovate policy but who was a loyal lieutenant to Obama and remained a friend to Israel — and he was often left to use the negotiating skills he honed through decades in the Senate to bridge the divide. The term, dating at least back to the Clinton presidency, is used to describe politicians who have a visceral understanding of Israel. Biden vividly described the difference between Netanyahu, the seasoned politician, and Obama, the relative neophyte, to Michael Oren, the former US ambassador to Israel.
Obama launched a bid to get to Israeli-Palestinian peace from the get-go. His top negotiator, George Mitchell, was despairing of a deal by and seeking an end to the impasse. Biden was appeased after Netanyahu expressed regret for the announcement and his officials relayed a pledge to Biden that Israel would not build in the area for several years. Lipner said Biden did not want to waste the opportunity to kick-start the peace process. Alan Solow, an Obama donor and at the time the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said Biden had been looking forward to the trip, which he made clear in a meeting with the Jewish communal leadership before he traveled.
And, you know, at some point, probably 45 minutes after he was supposed to be done, I got a tip to extract him from the meeting — unwillingly. Obama, however, was furious about the development and wanted a strong statement: He asked Biden to condemn the planned building in a speech he gave at Tel Aviv University. Not because it is expected to lead to a breakthrough in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiation, nor to a unified U. It is a big deal, simply because it is happening.
A presidential visit to Israel is not routine. Quite the contrary. Obama will be the fifth. Not till now. For example, several months into his first term as president, Obama traveled to Egypt, where he delivered a major speech about American-Arab relations, but then, foolishly, chose not to stop in near-by Israel. That slight, or so it was interpreted in Israel, proved to be a major diplomatic blunder. So, why go to Israel now? But off he goes. A merica has not one but two special relationships: one with Britain and one with Israel.
When the two clash, the alliance with Israel usually trumps the one with Britain, as Tony Blair discovered to his cost in For the sake of the special relationship Blair dragged Britain into a disastrous war in Iraq, but in the aftermath of the war his American allies reneged on their promise to push Israel into a settlement with the Palestinians.
Blair was no match to the power of the Israel lobby in the US. American politicians of both parties often use the mantra that the bond with Israel is unbreakable. In America, Israel is essentially an issue in domestic politics rather than foreign policy. And it is the subject of deep disagreement between the outgoing Obama administration and the incoming Trump administration.
Things came to a head following the passage of UN Security Council resolution on 23 December with 14 votes in support and only the US abstaining. The Obama administration allowed the resolution to be adopted because by their lights it was not anti-Israeli but, on the contrary, essential for preserving Israel as a Jewish and democratic country. In this respect the resolution was entirely consistent with US policy since in viewing Israeli settlements on occupied land as illegal and as an obstacle to peace.
For Benjamin Netanyahu, however, the UN resolution was like a red rag to a bull. That Obama detests Netanyahu is common knowledge. Obama has given Israel considerably more money and arms than any of his predecessors.
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