Charlie Wolf

Gaffe-prone Biden Has His Foot In His Mouth Yet Again

Thursday 11th 2010f March 2010

There is only one thing worse than American Vice President Joe Biden opening his mouth without thinking and that is opening his mouth after he has.

The gaffe-prone Biden has developed a reputation over the years on Capitol Hill as a bit of a windbag (if not a lovable windbag) but in the last year his constant faux pas, un-thought and ill-thought out comments have got Biden in trouble with his boss, the president. There is no shortage of top 10 lists of Biden’s missteps, blunders, slip-ups and historical mistakes.

But now, while on a diplomatic visit to Israel and the disputed territories (which is officially what they are called, not “occupied territories”) he has the temerity to insult Israel – to condemn her outright – without the full facts. As with the Obama doctrine of making simpering overtures to enemies who won’t change and insults to your allies, Biden took the trouble to call out a close friend of the American people.

The issue at hand is settlement building in East Jerusalem, specifically 1,600 new homes for the Orthodox community. The initial approval happened, by coincidence, on the eve of Biden’s Middle East trip.

In a strongly worded statement, Biden said, “I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem. 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.”

Yet, no such thing happened. The approval was a “procedural stage in a long process that will continue for some time”, according to the Interior ministry. The decision, a bureaucratic one, was made by the Jerusalem District Planning Committee. It acts of its own account and not in consultation with the Interior Minister, who says he would have gladly delayed the decision by a week or two if he knew.

The project had been in the planning stages for the last three years and probably will be at least two more years, and many more planning hurdles, before ground is even broke. It had nothing to do with Biden’s visit.
Netanyahu has done more to slow the building of settlements than any prior Israeli prime minister.

It should also be noted – contrary to what supposed international law experts tout as fact – that Israel’s claim to East Jerusalem, both historically and in international law, is solid. There is no dispute on its status and it should not prevent Israelis from providing homes for her citizens there. As Netanyahu stated, when he instituted a 10-month freeze on settlement building it did not include projects already under way or in East Jerusalem.

Biden’s statement has simply provided grist for the mill to the Palestinian negotiators who are trying to make settlements a central issue of the peace process when they should not. Biden and especially the Israelis should not let them.

Or maybe Biden and the president, realising that talks will not go anywhere, decided to find someone – Netanyahu and the Israelis – to blame before the talks fail so the fault won’t be pinned on the White House.

The issue of settlements is not – at this point – substantive enough. It does not create any facts on the ground that are not already there. If land were ceded (an action of which Israel has a proven history) the accommodation would make well needed housing stock for the Palestinians. If, by chance, the land were given up why couldn’t those concerned, if they wish, stay where they are. Jews and Arab Israelis live perfectly well together in Jerusalem; are the Palestinians saying they would not do the same? A racist state in Palestine, unlike many of its Arab neighbours, who would have thought?

Please Mr Vice President, don’t try to pin blame for talks with little chance of success on the Israelis and surely not on the need to house her citizens. Peace will come when the Palestinians are ready to talk peace; quibbling over the details will come much later.

What makes this all the worse is that for once Biden didn’t make a gaffe. He represents an American administration that is already failing generally in its foreign policy approach. It represents an administration that doesn’t know the Falklands are British and that East Jerusalem is Israel.