Biden in Israel: Day 1

David Streeter — March 8, 2010 – 3:43 pm | Foreign Policy | Iran | Israel | Obama Comments (1) Add a comment

Vice President Joseph Biden is currently in Israel as part of what The Los Angeles Times dubbed a ”goodwill tour” to the Middle East. The Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon writes of the trip:

The importance of the vice presidential visit depends on the reason for the trip - whether it’s to represent the US at a ceremony or conduct defined diplomatic business - as well as the strength of the vice president.

As such, on the scale of past vice presidential visits, the scheduled arrival Monday of Vice President Joe Biden is one of the more significant ones. First, he is not coming merely to represent the US at some ceremony, and second, he is a strong vice president.

 

Many have speculated that Biden’s trip will serve a number of purposes including increasing US-Israel cooperation vis-a-vis Iran, affirming the strong bonds between Americans and Israelis, and jumpstarting the peace process. Today, Biden’s public statements focused primarily on Iran. Ha’Aretz, citing and interview with Yediot Ahronot, quoted Biden as saying:

’... I can promise the Israeli people that we will confront, as allies, any security challenge [Israel] will face. A nuclear-armed Iran would constitute a threat not only to Israel—it would also constitute a threat to the United States.’

And on military cooperation with Israel, Biden said:

’[The Obama administration] gives Israel annual military aid worth $3 billion. We revived defense consultations between the two countries, doubled our efforts to ensure Israel preserves its qualitative military edge in the region, expanded our joint exercises and cooperation on missile-defense systems.’

 

At the same time as Biden’s arrival, Former Senator George Mitchell, America’s Middle East Peace envoy, announced today that indirect negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority will resume next week. The New York Times, The Hill, and The Guardian all speculated today in their headlines that Biden’s presence in Israel is connected to Mitchell’s announcement. Regardless of whether or not this is the case, Mitchell’s progress remains indicative of the commitment to achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace by of President Barack Obama and his administration.

 

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