ISRAEL POLITICAL BRIEF

Posted by bonniekgoodman on March 20, 2016
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/full-text-israel-political-brief-march-20-2016-vice-president-joe-bidens-speech-to-the-2016-aipac-policy-conference/
Source: AIPAC
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
House Majority Leader
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
House Democratic Whip
Isaac Herzog
Chairman of Zionist Union and Leader of the Opposition
Israeli Knesset
John Kasich
Republican Presidential Candidate
Donald Trump
Republican Presidential Candidate
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Posted by bonniekgoodman on March 20, 2016
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/israel-political-brief-march-20-22-2016-2016-aipac-policy-conference-schedule/
Source: PMO, 3-9-16
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning issued the following statement at the start of his meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden:
“Mr. Vice President, Joe, it’s good to welcome you again in Jerusalem. You’re here with your wife Jill and your wonderful family: your daughter-in-law Hallie, your grandchildren Natalie and Hunter. And I hope you feel at home here in Israel because the people of Israel consider the Biden family part of our family. You’re part of our mishpucha. And I want to thank you personally for your, for our personal friendship of over 30 years. We’ve known each other a long time. We’ve gone through many trials and tribulations. And we have an enduring bond that represents the enduring bond between our people.
As you well know, the last 24 hours have been very difficult for Israel, including this morning. Twelve people were injured in five terrorist attacks. An American citizen, Taylor Force, was murdered. Taylor was a graduate of West Point, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, a graduate student of Vanderbilt University. And I want to extend our deepest condolences to his family and wish the injured a speedy recovery. And I know I speak for you because you’ve said these very words.
Joe, I appreciate your strong condemnation of terrorism. Nothing justifies these attacks. But unfortunately President Abbas has not only refused to condemn these terrorist attacks, his Fatah party actually praised the murderer of this American citizen as a Palestinian martyr and a hero.
Now, this is wrong. And this failure to condemn terrorism should be condemned itself by everybody in the international community.
We have taken many steps in recent months to fight Palestinian terrorism, and we’re taking even stronger measures now.
I believe that to fight terror, all civilized societies must stand together. And while Israel has many partners in this decisive battle, we have no better partner than the United States of America. It’s a partnership anchored in common values, confronting common enemies and striving for a more secure, prosperous and peaceful future.
I see your visit here as an opportunity for us to further strengthen this great partnership. We’ve just been discussing some of the challenges we face. The first one is the persistent incitement in Palestinian society that glorifies murderers of innocent people, and calls for a Palestinian state not to live in peace with Israel, but to replace Israel. And we are witnessing, regrettably, the collapse of states throughout the Middle East, the rise of ISIS and Iran’s relentless aggression and terror in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, the Golan and Gaza, and elsewhere in the region and around the world.
But we’re also standing before great opportunities, and I think some of them stem from these great challenges. The first opportunity is to deepen ties between Israel and the moderate Arab states, and this could help us build a solid foundation for peace and stability. We can also make Israel energy independent, an exporter of natural gas to the region and beyond. And we can use Israel’s advanced technology to continue to better our world – in agriculture, in water, in cyber and in many other areas. And I know, Joe, that one area is particularly close to your heart. We were discussing that just now – the battle against cancer in which you are taking a leading role.
Israel is making important strides in this field, and I have no doubt that Israel can contribute even more by working together with the United States of America. And that’s just true across the board, in every field. America and Israel are stronger when we work together. So I look forward to continuing to work together with you and President Obama to strengthen the remarkable and unbreakable alliance between our two countries.
Joe, my friend, welcome to Jerusalem.”
US Vice President Joe Biden issued the following statement at the start of his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“It’s true that Prime Minister Bibi and I go back a long way. I joked some time, a long time ago when you were at the Israeli consulate, we met outside of a, in a parking lot outside of a restaurant where I was meeting with some American Jewish leaders, and we became close friends and I later signed a picture for you that I, as a joke I said ‘Bibi, I don’t agree with a damn thing you say, but I love you.’ And the joke was, I would have been a member of the Labour party, not the Likud party. We were joking about what party we’d be in.
We’ve been friends, our families have been friends, you have come to know my sons, my daughter you’ve met, and I have made it an important part of my family’s life that as my children and grandchildren approach the age of 15, the first place I’ve taken them is in Europe, to Dachau, the second place is to Israel. And my deceased son Beau who died eight months ago – and thank you for your great personal concern, and I know you knew him – I brought along his two children who are ten and twelve, whose grandmother is Jewish and got raised in a Jewish family, their mum, because I want them to see that they’re not too young to understand all of what you talked about: that this is a commitment that goes deeper than security, and I appreciate your welcome. And my granddaughter, love of my life named after my deceased daughter Naomi, she’s coming, she’s on a visit here with her boyfriend whose family lives here, she’s a senior at Penn.
But all kidding aside, it’s been a close relationship. And it’s been one that is of consequence not only for Israel but for the United States and for freedom loving people all over the world. But as you said, we started our discussion about the most recent heinous terrorist attack yesterday in Jaffa and Jerusalem and Petah Tikva, my wife and my two grandchildren and granddaughter are having dinner on the beach not very far from where that happened. I don’t know exactly whether it’s 100 meters or 1,000 meters, and it just brings home that it can happen.
It can happen anywhere at any time. And what Bibi and I talked about was not just the death of Taylor, Taylor Force who served two tours, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, West Point graduate, a brilliant future. But we talked about the other wounded and the students he was with, and our instinct was the same. We both said ‘Let’s go to the hospital. Now. Let’s go see them. Let’s go see the families and meet with them.’
The reason I cite that, and as a personal note, is the instinct is the same ‘Let’s go see; let’s go touch; let’s go let those families know how much we care about them; let them know that that expression ‘if you don’t go get the terrorist, they’ll come to you.’’ And we’re dealing with it all over the world. So my condolences to Taylor’s family and all those who were victims of the attack yesterday and every day.
Let me say in no uncertain terms: the United States of America condemns these acts and condemns the failure to condemn these acts. This cannot become an accepted modus operandi. This cannot be viewed by civilized leaders as an appropriate way in which to behave even if it appears to inure to the benefit of one side or the other. It’s just not tolerable in the 21st century. They’re targeting innocent civilians, mothers, pregnant women, teenagers, grandfathers, American citizens. There can be no justification for this hateful violence, and the United States stands firmly behind Israel’s right to defend itself as we are defending ourselves at this moment as well.
That’s why we’ve done more to bolster, help bolster Israel’s security than any other administration in history. Across the board we’ve raised our security cooperation and military intelligence fields to unprecedented levels. And we’ve provided a historical amount of security assistance. We’ve ensure Israel has the most advanced weapons, including one of the most effective missile defense systems in the world. At the same time we are struggling to increase our missile defense capability because of the threat from North Korea.
It doesn’t mean we don’t disagree, but you never need to doubt that the United States of America has Israel’s back. And we know Israel has our back as well, I might add. It’s not a one way street. We’re committed to making sure that Israel can defend itself against all serious threats, maintain its qualitative edge with a quality, a quantity sufficient to maintain that. And it’s critical because Israel lives, as Bibi knows better than anyone, lives in a very, very tough neighborhood – a tough and changing neighborhood. Living some little sense of hope, but an awful lot of consternation.
All has changed since I started coming here when I first met with Golda Meir, and her assistant, a fellow named Rabin. I sat across the desk for an hour as she flipped those maps up and down, chain smoking, telling me about the Six Day War. And I had just come from Egypt and I was one of the few people allowed to go to the Suez Canal, I’m still not sure why. And all this activity was occurring in the desert, they kept telling me it was sand storms. And I came back and I said to the Prime Minister, I think there’s going to be another war. I think they’re getting ready to go to war again.
Well, several months later the Yom Kippur war occurred. I was just a rooky; I had no idea what it was. But I’ll never forget from that moment on, the intensity of the relationship has grown, but the face of the enemy has changed. The face of the enemy has changed and morphed in many ways.
But it also presents some small opportunity. And that is that that’s why it’s absolutely… we’re united in the belief that a nuclear armed Iran is an absolutely unacceptable threat to Israel, to the region and to the United States. And I want to reiterate which I know people still doubt here. If in fact they break the deal, we will act. We will act. And all their conventional activity outside of the deal is still beyond the deal, and we will and are attempting to act wherever we can find it.
And together we’re seeking ways to advance our shared security interests and address, as I said, the new realities of the region. I just came from two days in the UAE, I’ll be heading to Jordan, I was at the Camp David conference, the GCC’s meeting with the President later in April, and as I said, I spend a lot of time as you do with the King of Jordan, I’m heading over from here to see him, and I want to make a couple points.
If you had talked in the region as a whole, four years ago, about whether any Arab states were under some conditions prepared to make peace, real peace with Israel, it would have been, at least I would have said, there’s no shot. Common enemies make the, you know, you know, the enemy… Anyway, you get the torrent. And so I think there are possibilities here. I did not come with a plan. I just came to speak to a friend and to be able to have an open discussion in a closed room, where we brainstorm the whole range of things.
But it is not all hopeless. It is not all hopeless. We will crush Daesh. We will crush ISIS. Together we will crush them. They will not be sustained. I promise you. It will take time, but they will not be sustained. And they’re losing ground every day in Syria, but really losing ground – they’ve lost 40% of the ground they had in Iraq. It’s hard. It’s difficult. But it requires coalitions. It requires cooperation. Most of all, it requires people realizing what their self-interest is. And as we Catholics say, these folks have had an epiphany. They’ve realized that they’d rather be in your orbit than in the orbit of Daesh and ISIS and terrorism, and al-Nusra, et cetera.
And so, if we’re lucky and smart and tenacious, over the next six months, year, eighteen months, we can actually make some real progress. But progress always requires taking a chance and that’s one of the things we’re going to discuss.
And so, I’m here in the region to discuss shared threats that we face and how to advance common security. That includes seeking resolutions to the crisis in Syria and our shared commitment to destroying ISIL. Bibi and I talked very, just a few moments ago. I doubt that you would have thought either of us, was saying as old friends, you know, it’s good we’re cooperating with Russia in Syria. Right? I mean, that would not have come out of either one of our mouths – at least mine – four or five years ago, but the truth is Russia has seen the Lord on some of these issues as well.
It also includes our efforts to ensure that Iran complies with its obligations under the nuclear deal and jointly address the remaining challenges Iran poses to the region. And I’m also back here in Israel to talk to Bibi about the great opportunities that exist in the region, especially new opportunities relating to energy. It’s funny that in the last five years the United States, North America, has become the epicenter of energy in the world. Well, guess what? Little old Israel is about to become the epicenter of energy in this entire region, and can have a profound, profound positive impact on relationships from Egypt to Turkey to Cyprus to Greece to Jordan. And it’s not easy getting there, but you have the tools now to be able to get there. And so, you know, the only way to assure, in my view, the future of a Jewish, democratic State of Israel – and by the way, that’s what in ’48 it called for, a Jewish state, okay? We should get over all of this. It was a Jewish state that was set up – is that the status quo has to break somewhere along the line here in terms of a two state solution. Even though it may be hard to see the way ahead, we continue encourage all sides to take steps to move back toward the path to peace – not easy – and for the sake of Israel, and I might add, for the sake of the Palestinians in the region. But the kind of violence we saw yesterday, the failure to condemn it, the rhetoric that incites that violence, the retribution that it generates, has to stop. There can’t be, there cannot be unilateral steps to undermine trust. That only takes us further away, further and further away from an outcome we know in our hearts is the only fundamental outcome, the only outcome that is the ultimate guarantor.
So what I want, I urge everyone to work to restore the calm for the Israelis and you’re already trying it, Bibi, and the Palestinians alike to… so they can go about their daily lives without fear – easier said than done – so that the vision of two states and two people can endure.
Bibi, I want to thank you again for your partnership and at a more personal level for your personal friendship, and I look forward to the discussions we are going to have today with our teams. On a personal note, I want to say how much I’m looking forward to my young grandchildren seeing everything from Yad Vashem to the Wall, the things that are the stuff of which cultures are made. I want them to understand for themselves that the relationship between the United States and Israel is more than the relationship of two governments. It’s a bond between people, forged a link by successive generations and grounded in an abiding commitment to Israel’s security – a bond that can never be broken. It’s something that Bibi knows I take personally and I assure you, so does the President.
So for, as I said, we’ve known each other a long time. We’ll probably, you know… When we get together, our key staffs have heart attacks, because we’re supposed to be meeting with all of them and we get talking and we just leave them all behind. We leave everything for them to straighten out. But it’s the nature of the friendship and it’s the nature of the relationship, so I still think, Bibi, there’s a lot we can get done.”
Posted by bonniekgoodman on March 9, 2016
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/full-text-israel-political-brief-march-9-2016-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-and-vice-president-joe-biden-in-a-joint-statement-transcript/
Source: PMO, 5-31-15
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his statement at the end of his meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier:
“I would like to offer Israel’s sincere condolences to my good friend Vice President Joe Biden on the passing of his son Beau. Vice President Biden spoke many times to me about Beau over the years, we’ve known each other for many, many years. And in his all too short life, Beau Biden achieved a great deal, and gave so much. Our thoughts and our prayers are with the entire Biden family at this difficult time.”
Posted by bonniekgoodman on May 31, 2015
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2015/05/31/full-text-israel-political-brief-may-31-2015-pm-netanyahus-condolences-to-the-biden-family-on-the-death-on-beau-biden/
Source: WH, 4-23-15
Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium
Washington, D.C.
7:29 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Ron, Mr. Ambassador, my name is Joe Biden, and everybody knows I love Israel.
I was thinking as Ron was saying that he doesn’t know what it’s like in Catholic families — whether we argue as much as allegedly occurs in Jewish families. Well, I settled all that. Two of my three children married Jews. (Laughter.) And you want to see what happens then. (Laughter.)
As a matter of fact, my daughter — I — the dream of every Irish-Catholic father is for his daughter to marry a Jewish surgeon. (Laughter.) And she did.
But I want you to know I think the only time on record, at least in the state of Delaware, in the oldest Catholic church in the state, the second oldest — 1842 — we signed the ketubah in the Catholic rectory. (Laughter.) Not a joke. (Laughter.) Not a joke. I think that’s a first. We had a chuppah on the altar, handmade, magnificently, beautiful chuppah. And we had a Catholic priest, Father Murphy, and a rabbi, and it was hard getting a rabbi, by the way. (Laughter.) I had to go up to Montgomery County to find one. (Laughter.) And the reason why — Montgomery County, Pennsylvania — and the reason he came is his mother loved me. (Laughter.) But — and my daughter asked me, she said, Daddy, what do you want played at the wedding? I said, just one — maybe the concluding hymn could be “On Eagles’ Wings”.
And so the rabbi was a wonderful guy, literally presided over 75 percent of the wedding. The vows were administered by the Catholic priest. And as the wedding party was departing, as the bride and groom were departing down the aisle, they played the hora. (Laughter.) So I figured it out. One way to end arguments is to marry. (Laughter.)
Look, the fact of the matter is that 77 years [sic] ago, at midnight on May 14, 1948, against all odds, in the wake of searing tragedy, defiant in the face of overwhelming military numbers massed on its borders, the modern State of Israel was born. (Applause.)
What you did next was no less than miraculous. You were blessed with one of the greatest generations of founding fathers and mothers of any nation in the history of the world — Ben-Gurion, Meir, Begin, Sharon, Rabin, Peres. They all fashioned Israel into a vibrant, vibrant democracy.
And in the process, you built one of the most innovative societies on Earth. In the process, you defended your homeland and became the most powerful military in the entire region. And all these years later, things have changed, but the danger still exists. But the people of Israel still live in a dangerous neighborhood. And just to be an Israeli — it still demands uncommon courage.
Much has changed, but two things have remained absolutely the same: the courage of your people and the commitment of mine. (Applause.)
So today, we celebrate your independence and our friendship, which was born just 11 minutes after Israel’s founding. And President Obama and I are proud to carry forward the unbroken line of American leaders –- Democrat and Republican —- who have honored America’s sacred promise to protect the homeland of the Jewish people.
It’s no secret that, like administrations before us, as the Ambassador said, we’ve had our differences. I have been here for a long time, for eight Presidents. I’ve witnessed disagreements between administrations. It’s only natural for two democracies like ours. As Ron said, we’re like family. We have a lot to say to one another. Sometimes we drive each other crazy. But we love each other. And we protect each other. (Applause.)
And it’s hard to see with these lights, but I suspect I know many of you personally. As many of you heard me say before, were there no Israel, America would have to invent one. We’d have to invent one because Ron is right, you protect our interests like we protect yours. (Applause.)
So let’s get something straight. In this moment of some disagreement occasionally between our governments, I want to set the record straight on one thing: No President has ever done more to support Israel’s security than President Barack Obama. (Applause.)
Just look at the facts. Each time a rocket has rained down from Gaza, President Obama stands up before the world and defends Israel’s right to defend itself like any other nation.
Under President Obama, with the United States Congress, America has provided $20 billion in military assistance to Israel -– and cutting edge weaponry needed to maintain the qualitative advantage against any potential opponent.
You all know the stories of Iron Dome. What you may not know is that next year, we will deliver to Israel the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter –- our finest -– making Israel the only country in the Middle East with a fifth-generation aircraft. No other. (Applause.)
And we continue to discuss, as the Israeli military here and the intelligence communities will tell you in Israel as well as here — we continue to discuss what more must be done in the near term and the long term to continue to strengthen Israel so she can maintain that edge. (Applause.)
Our commitment to protect Israel’s security in my case and many of your case is not just political or national interest, it’s personal. It’s personal for me and it’s personal for the President.
You’ve heard me say this many of my friends out there before, but it bears repeating on this day, it began at my father’s dinner table. My father was a righteous Christian. We assembled to eat, to have discussions — and occasionally eat. My father talked about how he could not understand why there was a debate among Americans or why there was a debate among American Jews about whether or not we should have recognized Israel; why there would be any debate about why we hadn’t done more; why we hadn’t — that’s where I first learned about not bombing the railroad tracks. I learned from my father about the concentration camps. And the first thing I did with my children when each of them turned 15, I took them to Europe, flew them directly to Dachau, and made them spend a day there with me. And I’ve done the same with my grandchildren. My grandchild Finnegan as recently as just a month ago where we met with a 94-year-old survivor of Auschwitz, as well as Dachau. He showed us the camp because he was proud — proud — to welcome the Vice President and his granddaughter.
All you have to do to understand is stand on the Golan and look down. I remember the first time I did that as a young senator. All you have to do is wander throughout Israel. All you have to do is take that helicopter ride the entire length of the fence. All you have to do is just look at the map. All you had to is set foot at Yad Vashem -— and you understand.
I’ve had the great privilege of knowing every Israeli Prime Minister since Golda Meir and more than just casually. And I’ve worked with many of you in this room for up to 40 years. You know me. You raised me. You educated me. And I know you.
So believe me when I tell you: It’s not only personal to me, it’s personal to President Obama, as well. The President was raised with memories of his great-uncle, who marched with Patton’s Army to liberate Jewish prisoners from the horrors of Buchenwald. As a young man, he grew up learning about Israel from the stories of Leon Uris’ in “Exodus”; the Six-Day War; and Moshe Dayan, with his eye patch and his courage. I remember sitting in front of Golda Meir’s desk as she flipped those maps up and down, chain-smoking, talking about the losses of the Six-Day War, sitting next to her military attaché at the time, a guy named Rabin.
But Barack, as a young senator — being 19 years younger than I am, he heard about it. He read about it. As senator, Barack Obama went to a small town in southern Israel to see with his own eyes the lives of the families who live under threat of rockets -– families that he has helped protect as Commander-in-Chief, under Iron Dome.
As President, he stood in Jerusalem, and declared to the whole world, “Those who adhere to the ideology of rejecting Israel’s right to exist, they might as well reject the earth beneath them or the sky above, because Israel is not going anywhere. So long as the United States of America is there, Israel will never be alone.” (Applause.) He means it. He means it. You know I mean it. I’m telling you he means it.
That’s my President. He understands the need for Israel to have the right and the capacity and the capability to defend itself. At the same time, he says, “we have Israel’s back” — and you can count on it.
The same commitment to the survival and security of Israel is fundamental to our strategy for the entire Middle East. And then we get into the controversial piece. Iran. Remember this is the President who made it for the first time in American history a declared policy of the United States to use all the instruments of our power to prevent -— not contain, prevent –- Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon. He stated that all options are on the table -— then he made sure of what did not exist before. He made sure we spent the time and money and the research to develop the capacity required to act against their capacity to develop a weapon if ever needed.
Over the skepticism of many, we worked with the U.S. Congress, our European allies, and Russia, China, to put in place the toughest sanctions regime in modern history.
We also knew the cost of not negotiating. Midway through the last administration, the U.S. government refused to directly engage. It insisted at the same time that Iran dismantle its entire program.
The result? By the time President Bush left office, Iran had dramatically advanced its movement toward ability to acquire a nuclear weapon. So we’ve taken a different approach, combining unprecedented pressure with direct diplomacy to find an enduring solution.
Negotiations began. And we’ve come a long way. And you’ve all seen the parameters that were put forward. It’s a framework, only a framework — not a final deal. A great deal of work lies ahead to see if Iran will actually enshrine the commitments that went into that framework as part of a final deal.
If they do, each of Iran’s paths to a bomb would be meaningfully and verifiably blocked. Iran would cut its enrichment capacity by two-thirds; shrink its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98 percent. Breakout time to create a weapon’s worth of bomb-grade material will go from two to three months, which it is today, to over a year.
The deal would ensure at least a one-year breakout cushion for a decade. And for years after that, the breakout time would continue to be longer than it exists today.
We’ll prevent the Arak reactor from ever being a source of plutonium for nuclear weapons. We will put in place the toughest transparency and verification requirements in history -— providing the best possible check against a secret path to the bomb.
This isn’t a grand bargain between the United States and Iran. It’s a nuclear bargain between Britain, France, Russia, China, Germany, the EU, America and Iran. It’s based on hard-hitting, hard-headed, uncompromising assessments of what is required to protect ourselves, Israel, the region, and the world.
And if the final deal on the table that doesn’t meet the President’s requirements, we simply will not sign it.
A final deal must effectively cut off Iran’s pathways to the bomb. If it doesn’t, no deal.
A final deal must ensure a breakout timeline at least for one year for a decade. If it doesn’t, no deal.
A final deal must include phased sanctions relief, calibrated against Iran taking meaningful steps to constrain their program. If it doesn’t, no deal.
A final deal must provide a verifiable assurance to the international community demands to ensure Iran’s program is exclusively peaceful going forward. If it doesn’t, no deal.
And if Iran cheats at any time and goes for a nuclear weapon –- every option we have to respond today remains on the table. And your military will tell you, and more.
I’ve been involved in arms control negotiations since I was a kid in the Senate at 30 years of age — every major SALT agreement, START agreement, and toward the end, I was deeply involved negotiating when Brezhnev was still around, leading a delegation of senators. But just like arms control talks with the Soviet Union —- another regime we fundamentally disagreed with, another regime whose rhetoric was outrageous and unacceptable, another regime whose proxies were forcefully making trouble, and we forcefully countered around the world –- we negotiated to reduce the nuclear threat to prevent a nuclear war. And it kept us safer. That’s what we’re attempting to do today.
We also continue to agree with Israeli leaders going back decades –- from Rabin to Sharon, whose funeral I had the great honor of eulogizing –- that a two-state solution is essential to Israel’s long-term survival as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people. Consistent with our commitment to Israel’s security and survival, the United States stands ready to help Israel decide — if they decide — how to get there and if they want our help in getting there.
I’ll always remember what my friend and mentor, and Holocaust survivor who worked for me as my national security advisor before he became Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Lantos once said. He said, “the veneer of civilization is paper thin. We are its guardians and can never rest.”
That’s why we must never retreat from fighting every scourge and source of anti-Semitism as we find it. You see, in too many places where legitimate criticism crosses over into bigotry and anti-Semitism; where an explicitly anti-Semitic attack takes place at a kosher grocery store; assaults on religious Jews in the streets of major European capitals. Some of you may remember how harshly I was criticized as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee over 15 years ago when I held hearings on anti-Semitism in Europe. Emerson said, society is like a wave, the wave moves on, but the particles remain the same. Wherever, in whatever country, whatever circumstance it rears its head, we have to stop it.
Enough is enough. We have to fight it everywhere we find it.
I’ll conclude — and my friends kid me and I imagine Ron may, as well — telling you the story about my meeting with Golda Meir. The reason I do it had a profound impact on me, one of the most consequential meetings I’ve ever had in my life. I think I’ve met every major world leader in the last 36 or 37 years in the world, in a literal sense.
But I remember meeting for close to an hour with her. She went through what happened in the Six-Day War, and the price that was paid. And I just had come from Egypt. They let me go to Egypt and go to the Suez Canal. And I was saying to she and Rabin that I thought that they were getting ready to attack again. And everyone including my military and Israeli military thought I was crazy.
I remember driving from Cairo all the way to out to the Suez. And you could see these great plumes of dust and sand. But none it seemed isolated. It turns out it was maneuvers taking place in the desert. And I was really worried. And we went through, and she painted a bleak, bleak picture — scared the hell out of me, quite frankly, about the odds.
And all of a sudden she looked at and she said, would you like a photograph? And I said, yes, ma’am. And those double-blind doors opened up into that hallway — not hallway. It looks like — it’s a foyer. And we walked out, and the press was standing there. We didn’t say anything. We just stood side by side. And she must have thought I looked worried. And it’s an absolutely true story. She didn’t look at me, she spoke to me. She said, Senator, you look so worried. I said, well, my God, Madam Prime Minister, and I turned to look at her. I said, the picture you paint. She said, oh, don’t worry. We have — I thought she only said this to me. She said, we have a secret weapon in our conflict with the Arabs. You see, we have no place else to do.
I was criticized in the national press a couple weeks ago when I said that, in fact, every Jew in the world needs there to be an Israel. And it was characterized by some of the conservative press as saying that I was implying Jews weren’t safe in America. They don’t get it. They don’t get it. Israel, Israel is absolutely essential — absolutely essential — security of Jews around the world. And that’s why you have never farmed out your security. You’ve accepted all the help we could give. The most admirable thing about you is you’ve never asked us to fight for you. But I promise you, if you were attacked and overwhelmed, we would fight for you, in my view. (Applause.)
The truth of the matter is we need you. The world needs you. Imagine what it would say about humanity and the future of the 21st century if Israel were not sustained, vibrant and free.
We’ll never stop working to ensure that Jews from around the world always have somewhere to go. We’ll never stop working to make sure Israel has a qualitative edge. And whomever the next President is — Republican or Democrat — it will be the same because the American people, the American people are committed. The America people understand.
So I say happy birthday, Israel. Happy Independence Day. May God bless you and may God bless and protect the United States of America. Thank you all so very much. (Applause.)
END
7:52 P.M. EDT
Posted by bonniekgoodman on April 23, 2015
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2015/04/23/full-text-israel-political-brief-april-23-2015-vice-president-joe-bidens-remarks-at-the-67th-annual-israeli-independence-day-celebration/
Source: Jerusalem Post, 11-10-14
Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly on Monday and said that the United States will never abandon Israel….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on November 10, 2014
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/israel-political-brief-november-10-2014-vp-joe-biden-at-jewish-federations-general-assembly-us-will-never-abandon-israel/
Source: NYT, 3-4-13
Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., right, with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference in Washington on Monday.
The thundering ovations, slickly produced videos and legions of lawmakers were the same as ever. But something was missing as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee convened here this week for its annual conference: tension….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on March 4, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/israel-political-brief-march-4-2013-vp-joe-biden-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-stress-points-of-unity-in-speeches-at-aipac-2013/
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told American Jewish leaders Tuesday “all options are on the table” to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.
Source: Israel National News, 5-22-12
VP Joseph Biden Meets with Conference of Presidents
Israel News photo courtesy of Joshua Roberts
Speaking with 70 leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Washington, Biden and other senior Obama administration officials briefed the leaders on U.S. foreign policy.
The emphasis was on Iran, which secured an apparent agreement with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency that Israel sees as not being strong enough to deter Iran from its nuclear ambitions. The deal is supposed to allow United Nations nuclear inspectors to visit Iran’s nuclear sites.
Iranian officials are to meet in Baghdad on Wednesday with the “P5 + 1,” comprised of the five United Nations Security Council permanent members and Germany.
Iran is to receive a proposal that is expected to include its agreement to shut down a high-grade uranium enrichment operation. Israeli leaders are strongly skeptical of any agreement that does not require Iran to stop all enrichment of uranium, a key element for a nuclear weapon.
At the meeting with Jewish leaders, the American officials, including Deputy National Security Advisor Dennis McDonough reiterated the administration’s “ironclad” commitment to Israel’s security.
The Conference leaders routinely meet with White House officials once a year, but Tuesday’s meeting was politically important because of the presidential elections in November.
Virtually all polls show that President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, who has sewn up the GOP nomination, are running neck and-neck, with a marginal advantage to Romney.
Vice President Biden met today at the White House with representatives of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The Vice President addressed the Obama Administration’s unprecedented support for Israel’s security; our steadfast opposition to any attempts to delegitimize Israel; and our commitment to a lasting, secure peace that is in the interest of Israelis, Palestinians and the United States. The Vice President also discussed a range of regional issues, including Iran. The Vice President praised attendees for their support of a strong relationship between the United States and Israel and the broad range of policy, charitable and intellectual pursuits in which they are engaged.
Posted by bonniekgoodman on May 22, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/israel-political-brief-may-22-2012-vice-president-joe-biden-reassures-jewish-leaders-at-conference-of-presidents-of-major-american-jewish-organizations-all-options-on-table-with-iran/