Attempting to end his visit to Israel on a positive note, in his final speech, US Vice President Joe Biden stressed the enduring friendship between Israel and the United States. But it was impossible to ignore the bad blood which boiled to the surface on this visit. The headlines in the Hebrew press read that He’d been “embarrassed” by Israel, “The Slap heard Round the World”, read once newspaper. It was a reference to Israel’s announcement of new Jewish housing to be built in disputed East Jerusalem. Palestinians want that for the Capitol of their future state. The Government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says East Jerusalem is not negotiable and will be part of Israel after a final peace agreement. His government seems committed to claiming the land one brick at a time, with no Palestinian input.
This, of course, humiliated Vice President Biden who is here representing a President who once demanded Israel halt all construction on disputed land. The only option for the Vice President was to rebuke the Israelis. He said, “That decision, in my view, undermined the trust required for productive negotiations. I, at the request of President Obama, condemned it immediately and unequivocally.”
The call for 1600 new apartments in East Jerusalem was bolstered by newspaper reports saying another 50-thousand units are in various stages of planning for East Jerusalem as well.
The probable casualty of Israel’s defiance is the only victory the Obama administration can boast in the Middle East. Envoy George Mitchell was able to secure an agreement for 3 party talks with the US mediating. It represents a step back from direct negotiations, but the hope was that the talks could steamroll into something more productive.
Upon hearing Israel’s plan for new construction, the Secretary General of the Arab league, Amr Moussa, told reporters that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pulled out of the three way talks. However, a PLO representative later clarified to Fox News that Palestinians feel it is justified to abandon negotiations but they want to let the US have a chance to pressure Israel into scrapping the construction plans before they bail on the talks. PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi said of the construction plans; “All these are designed to scuttle American efforts at trying to re-launch any kind of talks, be they direct or indirect.”
It was Israel’s interior Minister Eli Yishai who made the announcement about the new construction, while Vice President Biden was meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Defiant as ever, Yishai offered an apology, but only for the timing of the announcement.