Blatant Conquest

It’s been a long time since the United States read the riot act to Israel in such unmistakable terms. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was visibly annoyed by the Israeli announcement that it intended to build an additional 1,600 housing units in the religious Ramat Shlomo sector of the occupied city of Jerusalem. “I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem,” Biden bluntly said, “in the substance and timing of the announcement.” Biden added that, especially now in the light of approaching negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, the expansion of disputed settlements “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.”

This criticism from the second most powerful man in the White House had immediate effect. Biden left his host to cool his heels for an hour and a half at the prime minister’s dinner table, to which he had been invited. The dinner party was intended to be a backdrop signifying renewed friendship between the U.S. and Israel. Joe Biden seemed the ideal choice for the role of President Obama’s representative on this occasion; his love for Israel had been instilled in him by his Irish mother and he had been close to Prime Minister Netanyahu for years. At first, everything seemed to be closely following the choreography. Biden’s arrival heralded the resumption of the Middle East peace process after a 14 month hiatus; the Obama administration could finally point to a tiny but long-awaited success. Biden thanked Netanyahu with declarations of solidarity against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. It was all salve for the Israeli soul.

That made the Ramat Shlomo settlement expansion plans all the more provocative. The autonomous Palestinian government in Ramallah didn’t waste the opportunity to score some points. They were gratified that Biden expressed outrage over the Israeli decision, but the vice president was unable to tell them that the Israelis would shelve their plans.

Eli Yishai, Israel’s minister of the interior, was, in fact, contritely apologetic for having duped Biden and said that, had they expected such a reaction from Biden, they would have postponed announcing their plans for several weeks. But that only shows how blatant Israel’s intentions are in grabbing territory that, according to international law, belongs to Palestine.

Israeli government politicians were quick to declare their support for Israel’s claim to all of the city of Jerusalem, and Netanyahu concurs with them. He’s only willing to compromise on territory in the West Bank, where he has conducted an on-again, off-again highly selective policy of settlement expansion for the past 10 months. He appears incapable of doing any more than that in the face of his coalition government with its built-in right wing twist, especially since Netanyahu apparently has little control over partners like Yishai or Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who vacillate back and forth according to their mood at the time or the demands of their special interest constituents.

That’s not only problematic for the peace process; it also affects the question of the dangers posed by a nuclear Iran. In order to oppose Iran, Israel needs the United States at its side. For that reason alone, it was extremely unwise of them to butt heads with Joe Biden.