Joe Biden came to Israel bearing a guarantee of security. To show their gratitude, the Israelis snubbed him with plans for a new Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem and then tried to excuse it with a half-hearted apology. The Palestinians weren’t the only ones feeling provoked.
Joe Biden traveled to Israel with good intentions. President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pressed Biden to increase pressure on Iran because of its nuclear program and to isolate it internationally. The U.S. vice president gave them a clear answer: “There is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security,” Biden said. Netanyahu’s press secretary couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Shortly afterward, Israel’s Interior Ministry announced plans to build new housing units for 1,600 Israeli residents in the northern Jerusalem sector known as Ramat Shlomo.
Israel considers Ramat Shlomo a normal neighborhood that has been part of Jerusalem ever since 1980 when Israel declared it their indivisible capital city. In addition, some 20,000 devout Jews already live there.
According to international law, however, it is a settlement because it is in occupied Arab East Jerusalem. The construction of Jewish settlements, in Jerusalem especially, has been one of the most contentious issues in the Middle East dispute.
Palestinians want to make East Jerusalem the capital of a new independent Palestinian state and object to the Israeli plans. Nabil Abyu Rudeinah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the plans “a provocation.”
But in view of the security guarantee he gave just hours earlier, the American vice president had to perceive the announcement as an affront. Additionally, the Israelis and Palestinians had already agreed on Monday to take up indirect negotiations with the assistance of the United States. Considering the backdrop of now-clouded relations between the two nations, it’s an Israeli fiasco.
Biden’s reaction was not long in coming and was crystal clear: “We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them,” Biden said, adding that the timing of the announcement undermined “the trust that we need right now” and ran contrary to the constructive dialog he brought to the region.
Now the Israeli government is showing remorse, if not for its original actions. Israel’s Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, said Israel should have shown more common sense during the visit of such a high-ranking statesman, adding that it wasn’t Israel’s intention to insult Biden. Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog apologized for the “embarrassment” and Netanyahu explained it wasn’t his intention to snub Biden or disrupt the vice president’s visit.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.