Biden Pledges U.S. Commitment To Israeli Security

[Purveyor]

Source: LA TIMES

By Paul Richter

March 9, 2010 | 1:00 p.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 that country'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.

But tensions between the U.S. and Israel were underscored Tuesday by Israel's announcement 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.

Biden quickly condemned the Israeli announcement.

"The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks , 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," he said.

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.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-biden-israel10-2010mar10,0,123115.story

[katandmoon]

1. Israel...ObamaCo's Rush Limbaugh

[bloomington-lib]

2. If they need our commitment they need to do

everything they can to stop pissing off all of their neighbors. Building 1,600 new homes on disputed land doesn't help at all.

[proteus_lives]

3. Good.

[martymar64]

4. Israel slapped the US in the face today

And the US will take it like the weak ass bitches we are vis a vis Israel.
This disrespect is getting really old. We give them buttloads of cash every years and they punk us like that. I bet in the next week Biden will be on the news smiling and telling us that the shit sandwich he took a bite from over there is really chocolate ice cream.