And The Award For Israel's Greatest Friend Goes To...Joe Biden?

Is anyone else getting tired of hearing about who is--or isn't--Israel's greatest friend? At one point, there were those who proclaimed that President Bush had won that award. Now we are told that Joe Biden is a winner in the Greatest Friend of Israel Ever to Have Been a Member of the U.S. Senate category.

Laura Rozen writes at Politico:

The Israeli press has been extremely critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government's behavior during Biden's visit. See these excerpts from a piece by Shimon Shiffer in Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth today, headline: "Biden: You’re Jeopardizing Regional Peace":

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Israel as a friend. As a matter of fact, he is considered to be the greatest friend of Israel ever to have been a member of the U.S. Senate. Legislation that he promoted over the years ensured the Israelis’ security and welfare. It is that great friend of ours who now feels betrayed.

With all due respect, I think it is long past time to distinguish between US politicians who vote pro-Israel and those who actually walk the walk.
As I noted last week, in a post on Soccer Dad, I wrote about a post in The New York Sun's now defunct blog, It Shines For All:

When hearing the name Biden, we always think of the famous exchange between Biden and Prime Minister Begin. As Moshe Zak recounted in a March 13, 1992, piece in the Jerusalem Post:

In a conversation with Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, after a sharp confrontation in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the subject of the settlements, Begin defined himself as "a proud Jew who does not tremble with fear" when speaking with foreign statesmen.

During that committee hearing, at the height of the Lebanon War, Sen. John [sic] Biden (Delaware) had attacked Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria and threatened that if Israel did not immediately cease this activity, the US would have to cut economic aid to Israel.

When the senator raised his voice and banged twice on the table with his fist, Begin commented to him: "This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. Don't threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us."

After the meeting, Sen. Moynihan approached Begin and praised him for his cutting reply. To which Begin answered with thanks, defining his stand against threats.

Real friends criticize friends--but they do not threaten. So what did Biden say away from the public eye?

While standing in front of the cameras, the U.S. vice president made an effort to smile at Binyamin Netanyahu even after having learned on Tuesday that the Interior Ministry had approved plans to build 1,600 housing units in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo. But in closed conversations, Joe Biden took an entirely different tone. ...

People who heard what Biden said were stunned. “This is starting to get dangerous for us,” Biden castigated his interlocutors. “What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.”

So according to Biden, building on land that was captured during a defensive war--land that has never been part of a Palestinian sovereign state--is a threat not only to regional peace, but to the lives of American troops. How can that be? Biden explains:

The vice president told his Israeli hosts that since many people in the Muslim world perceived a connection between Israel’s actions and US policy, any decision about construction that undermines Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem could have an impact on the personal safety of American troops fighting against Islamic terrorism.

So Israel is supposed to refrain from looking after the best interests of its own citizens because of the perceptions of the Muslim world. Putting aside the fact that such reasoning could be used to continue a building freeze indefinitely, what is left unsaid is that along with that perception comes a long history of Muslim violence in the region--Muslim violence that started immediately after the death of Mohammed and which has continued till today, including as many as 11 separate inter-Muslim conflicts during the 13 years from 1970 to 1983 along. Throw in the list at The Religion of Peace of deaths and casualties currently resulting from Muslim violence and terrorism around the world, and it is clear that Israel is not be held responsible for Biden's unnamed Muslim terrorism and violence.

Bidne's mis-perceptions of the Middle East are part of a long pattern.  A Wall Street Journal op-ed in 2008 notes that

• During the 1970s, Biden opposed aid to South Vietnam in its war against the North, contributing to the fall of an American ally.
  
• During the 1980s, Biden opposed both President Reagan's efforts to fund the Contras and Reagan's attempt to send military assistance to the pro-American government in El Salvador, which was battling the FMLN.
  
• Biden voted against the first Gulf War, asking: "What vital interests of the United States justify sending Americans to their deaths in the sands of Saudi Arabia?"
  
• While he did vote to authorize the war to liberate Iraq, in 2006 Biden argued in favor of the partition of Iraq as a way to end the violence.
  
• In 2007, Biden opposed the troop surge in Iraq, calling it a "tragic mistake."

Based on these examples, the op-ed concludes:

On many of the most important and controversial issues of the last four decades, Mr. Biden has built a record based on bad assumptions, misguided analyses and flawed judgments. If he had his way, America would be significantly weaker, allies under siege would routinely be cut loose, and the enemies of the U.S. would be stronger.

A more recent bad assumption by Biden is mentioned in his comments at Tel Aviv University:

It’s no secret the demographic realities make it increasingly difficult for Israel to remain both a Jewish homeland and a democratic country in the absence of the Palestinian state. Genuine steps toward a two-state solution are also required to empower those living to live in peace and security with Israel and to undercut their rivals who will never accept that future.

On the contrary, it is no secret that the old assumptions about the demographics were based on the exaggerated and inaccurate information provided by the Palestinian Arabs. IMRA has a translation of a Hebrew article by Yoram Ettinger:

There is a demographic problem, but it is not lethal, there is no demographic machete at Israel's throat, and the demographic tailwind is Jewish, not Arab. In fact, documented births, deaths and migration clarify that Jewish demography has become a strategic asset and not a liability. Hence, awareness of demographic reality could enhance the security, political, strategic, diplomatic and economic options of Israeli doves and hawks alike. [emphasis added]

Bottom line, Israel was careless in allowing a situation where Vice President Biden was embarrassed by poorly timed statements by the government. However, by the same token, it behooves Israeli leaders to be aware of who is a friend of Israel and who is not; who is reliable and consistent and who is not. Under the circumstances and given his track record, Biden just does not fit the bill.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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