Biden bevestigt US ondersteuning van Israel

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Alleen jammer dat Netanyahu hem in het gezicht spuugt door uitbreiding
woningbouw in Oost-Jerusalem.
Dit is een indicatie van de houding van de Israelische regering t.o.v.
de USA. My way or no way!

Groet / Cees

PS. Wanneer worden de links tussen Madoff en Israel bekend gemaakt?

Biden reassures Israel of U.S. commitment
But as the vice president meets with officials on a goodwill mission,
Israel announces new construction in East Jerusalem. It was Obama's
attempts to stem such settlement that sparked tension.
By Paul Richter

March 9, 2010 | 10:15 a.m.
Reporting from Jerusalem - Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday began an
effort to mend strained ties with Israel, pledging a total U.S.
commitment to Israel's security and declaring that the bonds between the
nations were "unbreakable."

Opening a day of consultations with Israeli leaders, Biden also promoted
indirect peace talks, set to begin soon, saying they offered "a moment
of real opportunity" in the search for a settlement between Israelis and
Palestinians.

Biden, the highest-ranking administration official yet to visit Israel,
was dispatched by President Obama to try to restore Israeli confidence
in the American government that has deteriorated over the last year.
Relations between the governments were strained by the Obama
administration's attempts to halt completely Israeli settlement growth
in the West Bank.

But their disagreements were underscored by Israel's announcement
Tuesday that it would begin construction on 1,600 new housing units in
disputed East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians hope to locate the
capital of a future state. Senior Israeli officials said the units in
Ramat Shlomo, a neighborhood for ultra-Orthodox Jews, had long been in
the works.

The administration also is trying to keep Israeli support for the
U.S.-led effort to curtail Iran's nuclear program through economic and
political pressure, rather than military action.

Biden sought to set aside any hint of criticism in the current standoff,
saying it was "easy to point fingers at what both sides have done. But
it's also important to give credit for what has been done."

He praised Israel for its limited, temporary halt of settlement growth
in the West Bank and for increasing Palestinians' ability to move freely
in that area.

"The cornerstone of the relationship is our absolute, total, unvarnished
commitment to Israel's security," he said.

In meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon
Peres and Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni, Biden emphasized his long
personal ties to Israel and his affection for the country.

"It's good to be home," he told Peres.

When Netanyahu told Biden that Israel had planted a small stand of trees
in honor of his late mother, Biden responded, "My love for your country
was watered by this Irish lady."

The vice president and his team have kept tight control over his message
in the first three days of a weeklong trip to the region, in recognition
of the delicacy of the moment.

The usually garrulous vice president offered no background briefing for
reporters while on the plane and didn't take questions from Israeli or
American reporters in his appearances with Netanyahu or Peres. Biden
read from prepared remarks after his two-hour meeting with Netanyahu.

Biden has dealt with Israeli leaders going back to the 1970s and
compiled a pro-Israel voting record during his decades in the Senate. He
was accompanied on his visit by, among others, White House Mideast
advisor Dennis Ross, who worked on Mideast peace issues for Republican
as well as Democratic presidents and is a favorite of many Israelis.

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