Biden to AIPAC: Israeli, Palestinian apathy ‘incredibly disappointing’

WASHINGTON — Israelis and Palestinians must revive their will for peace, Vice President Joe Biden told AIPAC Sunday night in a speech that earned thunderous applause for emotional expressions of affection for Israel and scattered boos for criticism of its government’s settlement activities and policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

Speaking before an enthusiastic audience, the vice president emphasized Washington’s support for Israel, even as he needled the Netanyahu government, accusing it of lacking the willpower to ink a peace deal with the Palestinians.

The audience of some 18,000 gathered in the Verizon Center sports arena rose to their feet as Biden jogged to the stage and cries of “we love you Joe” punctuated his opening remarks. But he was met with only faint applause – and a smattering of boos – when he asserted that Israel also bore some blame for the failure to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

US-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in June 2014, just months before a devastating war erupted between Israel and Hamas. In describing the conditions behind the loss of will for peacemaking, Biden also emphasized repeatedly the need for Palestinians and others in the Arab world to end incitement against Israel.

“In my view, after doing this for 42 years, there is no political will among Israelis or Palestinians to move forward with negotiations,” he lamented, calling that fact “incredibly disappointing.”

“To be frank, the Israeli government’s steady process of expanding settlements and expropriating land is eroding the possibility of a two-state solution,” Biden said at the Verizon Center, a Washington DC sports arena used for the first time by AIPAC to accommodate the record-breaking 18,000 activists in attendance. “Bibi [Netanyahu] thinks he can accommodate it. I don’t. Because trends on the ground are moving toward a one-state solution, and I feel that’s dangerous.”

Biden’s speech to the annual conference will be his last as a public official to the Israel lobby, and the cheers he earned throughout reflect his status as the Obama administration official most loved by the pro-Israel community.

The vice president described his trip to Israel earlier this month, one of many since he first visited the country in 1973, recounting the experience of finding out that his wife, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were dining just half a mile away from a stabbing spree in Jaffa-Tel Aviv that killed an American tourist and wounded 10 others.

“It’s not imagined, it’s real,” he said of the anxieties Israelis feel. He said people asked him why he brought his grandchildren to Israel, considering the risks, and he said for the same reason he brought them to Dachau to understand the Holocaust.

“They need to know what happened, why Israel is so essential,” he said, choking up for a moment. “Israel is a place that creeps into your soul.”

Referring to the ongoing wave of Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have killed over 30 people over six months, Biden took Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to task for his “failure to condemn these atrocious acts of violence.”

“No leader has the right to tolerate terrorism,” he admonished the Palestinian leader to roaring applause. “No matter what legitimate disagreements the Palestinians may have with Israel, there is no legitimate excuse for killing innocents or remaining silent in the face of terrorism.”

He said he delivered that message to Abbas, earning the conference’s first standing ovation. “The terrorism has to stop, the incitement… it must stop,” said Biden, his voice hoarse.

In defense of the Iran deal

Biden also spoke of the controversial Iran nuclear deal — which has been a bone of contention between the administration and Jerusalem, and was opposed by AIPAC at last year’s policy conference — insisting that agreement inked last July made the Middle East safer.

Listing the actions that Tehran had taken to disable its nuclear program, Biden emphasized that the US was “watching Iran like a hawk.”

“Under this agreement, Iran will never be allowed to pursue nuclear weapons — never, never, never,” he proclaimed. “If Iran violates the deal, the United States will act. Our commitment is unambiguous. It will be impossible for the next president not to honor it.”

“The stakes for the United States and its partners are immense. The stakes for Israel are existential,” he noted, but added: “This year we’re no longer dealing with hypotheticals” when it comes to the results of the deal.

“More then two-thirds of Iranian centrifuges have been removed” since the deal was signed. “Enough enriched uranium for six nuclear bombs has been shipped out of the country. The core of the plutonium reactor has been removed, filled with cement so it can’t be used to make bombs.” There are “unprecedented inspections” underway in the Islamic Republic, he continued.

“Iran is much, much further away from obtaining a nuclear weapon than they were a year ago,” he said. “Whatever your feelings were about the deal, I hope you’re as happy about this as I am — that they are further from the possibility.”

Like many political figures to address the annual confab, Biden highlighted US aid to Israel as a sign of strong support. “During a time of tight budgets and difficult politics, Israel’s security has always been a priority,” said the vice president, who recently discussed the renewal of a massive 10-year defense assistance agreement with leading members of the Israeli government.

While warning that the agreement under negotiation might not include everything that “Israel wants,” he vowed that the agreement – known as the memorandum of understanding — “will without doubt be the most generous security assistance package in the history of the United States” and will give Israel “everything it needs.”

Partners against BDS

Biden tied anti-Semitism, particularly in Europe, to the “seemingly organized” effort to delegitimize Israel, comparing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel to the rising tide of anti-Semitism.

“No nation is immune from criticism, but it should not be singled out,” he said, vowing that the United States would continue to battle anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations.

“We will continue to stand against biased resolutions and attempts to delegitimize Israel at the United Nations,” Biden asserted, adding that the administration “will continue to push back against the calls by people here in the United States to boycott, divest from or sanction Israel.”

Most of the 4,000 students attending the conference from college campuses and high schools leaped to their feet, cheering the disavowal of the BDS movement.

“The future belongs to the bridge builders, and not the wall builders,” the vice president said to thunderous applause.

JTA contributed to this report.