When Bibi Meets Biden
As Joe Biden’s plane fueled up to head in the direction of the Middle East for today’s arrival, even the most optimistic of Israelis were viewing the U.S. vice president’s trip to Israel with skepticism — and the more pessimistic anticipated his mission with outright suspicion.
Publicly, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu waxed enthusiastic and “praised” the upcoming visit by his “personal friend of 30 years,” even as a “senior diplomatic official” (presumed to be either Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman or Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon) was quoted as angrily asking why Israel must settle for second best. President Obama, the official pointed out, seems to have no trouble showing up in person to woo Arab countries — and yet he keeps his distance from Israel.
“If the president speaks to one side, why do you send the No. 2 to speak to us? He can’t give a speech in Cairo to the Arabs, and suffice with speaking to us through videos.”
The answer isn’t complicated. In the Obama playbook, countries that are hostile to the U.S. deserve a charm offensive. Allies like Israel can be taken for granted. But to be fair, even the most supportive presidents have rarely graced Israel with their presence, unless there was a significant diplomatic achievement to take pride in. And at this moment in time, diplomatic progress has never seemed further from sight.
And so, with the possible exception of Netanyahu, Israelis weren’t exactly waiting for Biden’s arrival with bated breath. On Sunday’s news programs, news of preparations for his visit followed stories of multiple car accidents, coverage of crimes, and long discussions of the chances of Israel’s entry Ajami to win the Academy Award for best foreign-language film (with the mini-scandal that accompanied the entry after one of the directors, an Israeli Arab, declared that his “film shouldn’t represent Israel because Israel doesn’t represent me”).
When the hosts of the morning news shows finally got around to talking about U.S. envoy George Mitchell’s meeting on Saturday night with Defense Minister Ehud Barak to prepare the ground for the Biden arrival, they rolled their eyes and exclaimed, “Déjà vu!” Indeed, it seems as if Mitchell has been dropping in on a weekly basis as the latest Sisyphus of the peace process. His comings and goings have become part of the landscape.
Biden’s arm twisting jaunt has one main goal, to make sure that Israel is held back from attacking Iran’s nuclear sites.
The mega laundry list and parade of high level Washington leaders into Jerusalem bespeaks of the above.There has been so many such trips in the last few months that Ben Gurion airport is becoming like their second home. Hmm.
HOWEVER, Biden needn’t waste his time, nor should the others. My leaders leave alot to be desired on many fronts, but they are pros at nodding and appeasing when it suits their interests. HOWEVER, never in Israel’s history has any leader-from the left or right-dared to mess with existential issues.
Begin was warned ever so forcefully not to attack Iraq, Olmert(a leftist to the core)was warned not to attack the Syrian reactor. We all know how THAT worked out.
Those who contend that Iran is not Iraq, nor is Syria are right, but not in the way they think. Iran is the HOTTEST button issue-bar none-in Israel’s military/political leadership, and the preparations to deal with it have been ongoing for years. Presently the finishing touches are just about…. finished.
By the bye, yesterday’s headline on CNN’s ticker said that Russian pilots are leaving Iran post haste. The Iranians are spinning it that they ordered them to leave for a myriad of reasons. Me thinks that the Russians (who have their ears EVERYWHERE) know which way the bunkerbusting bombs are headed, and reacll, they also hightailed it out of Iraq right before Osirak. Hmm and hmm.
If it looks like a duck…..
Caroline Glick’s article was an excellent & accurate analysis, the best I’ve seen so far in the Israeli media. But if you want to see what the real reaction to Biden’s visit & the ”proximity talks” is among ordinary Israelis, you should read the talkbacks on the articles on this subject. Netanyahu is obliged to be diplomatic but everyone else is openly ridiculing Biden, calling him, among other things, a jackass & a bungling gaffe-prone fool. As for the ”proximity talks” – well, we all know this is just a PR stunt, a desperate attempt to have a foreign policy success, just a make-believe charade, pretend progress that is totally meaningless.
The real goal, of course, is to prevent an Israeli preemptive military strike against Iran. But, considering the abject failure of Obama’s Middle-East policies, no leader in his right mind would put his country’s security in the hands of incompetent bunglers & appeasers like Obama & his worthless team.
In addition to the great article by Caroline Glick, there is also an excellent chronicle of the year-long failure of American foreign policy at Rubin Reports, ”Pardon Me, Obama Administration, But Isn’t Your Policy on Fire.”
#1 Adina.
Obama’s bunglers are just trying for a repeat of their meddling in internal Israeli politics as they did under Clinton. The same goes for the irrelevent Ms Livni & her Kadima losers. But today’s Israel is definitely not the Israel of the Clinton years. We’re not so easily fooled these days by liberal idiots & their ”peace plans” –
It’s an understatement to say that our leaders leave much to be desired & this includes Netanyahu. I can only hope that he has the political will to carry out a preemptive strike against Iran before it is too late.
In my opinion, an Israeli attack & the subsequent regional war will be a game-changer just like in 1967. Our enemies need another crushing defeat to remove all hope of victory, of success in eliminating us.
This will give us peace for another 20 years.
US demands a State like Iran on the West Bank/Gaza! True or False? Why:
The US (government, not people) policy in Iran: Keep the dictators (that parade as religious) at all cost (same policy since Carter “stabbed the Shaw in the back in 1979)! Why? “nice Long lasting War and sell lots of weapons” (c 1991 Getty delivered to every member of congress on this war and the battle tactics to be used against us)
The “don’t ask don’t tell” going away is the way the “Government” tells you: “can you believe it, can you believe it” will be followed immediately by the “DRAFT”; no exemptions except practicing clergy this time boys and girls! Obumer! Caroline Glick & debka.com are good eye opening sources of de-brainwash or ignorance is blis: (bow to the oil G-d); whichever you prefer… (read there 2-8 year old material and see who told you the truth)
(read their 2-8 year old material and see who told you the truth; debka.com carolineglick.com or abcbsnbcbbcmsnbcfoxy et al
Joe to Bibi,”heh your women have really big T..ts”.
Joe Biden is probably the weakest, least influential, and least in the know member of the Obama adminstration, thus his mission here, whatever it may be, threatens no one and will accomplish nothing. Even Joe Biden recognizes how worthless he really is and has been quoted as saying how wonderful it is to be Vice President because he has nothing to do. Biden may take credit in Obama’s name for opening what are being called “proximity talks” that is, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to discuss negotiations but that’s about it. If Obama really wanted to hammer Israel and Netanyahu, Hillary Clinton would be stepping off that plane in Tel Aviv, not Joe Biden, God Bless ‘im!
Look, Obama is up to his elbows in a recession and huge American unemployment, plus he is trying breathe some sort of life into his most recent Frankenstein monster, health care reform. His personal popularity is collapsing and he is also facing the real and immediate possibility that come November, his party’s majorities in the House and Senate will be voted out. In short, Obama has bigger and more domestic fish to fry to be chasing Israel and the Palestinians around, nor does it help him with American voters to be seen venting his anti Israel hostility with elections coming up. Israel and Bibi are free from any serious American diplomatic pressure regarding the Palestinians well into next year, but will still have to take a very hard and dangerous decision regarding the use of the IDF to at least slow if not temporarily derail the Iranian nuclear program. I will guarantee right now that the Obama Administration won’t take THAT lying down or by sending Joe Biden either.
To Adina, Kutnicki:
I hope, and pray that you are right.
To: Terry, Eilat:
I have also read the comments following Caroline’s article, and understand that the public is not fooled by this charade Biden/Obama. And that’s a good think. Everybody in his right mind knows, that their ‘reset’ policy has been, and is a farce. Nobody takes them seriously.
One hopes that _Mme. la baronne de Glick_ is mistaken, because “to shore up the position of the Israeli Left as an alternative to Netanyahu” would be very silly policy.
Silliness and conjecture aside, though, Dr. Bones, there is what we miserable _dhimmí_s and Enlightenment victims would call “an ethical question” here: if the virile ganders of the neo-Levant may freely interfere in our Uncle Sam’s domestic affairs, exactly why may we silly geese not return the favour once in a while?
Healthy days.
US demands a State like Iran on the West Bank/Gaza! True or False
Joe Biden is an idiot and the court jester of the Obama regime; sending him to a country as a good will envoy is a joke and the Israeli people should feel insulted.
As an American and Christian, I’m actually embarrassed that Jolting Joe Biden will be my representative in Israel. Every time Jolting Joe opens his mouth, I find myself holding my breath at what idiocy might come spewing out. Joe Biden is the main reason I pray that Obama lays off the smokes for another three years and stays healthy.
Most Americans seem uninterested as to why Iran can not obtain access to a nuclear bomb, with that being the most immediate, most important global subject matter at hand IMHO. The rubes on the left mocked George Bush for stupidity, but Bush understood the threat to America.
The fact we’ve got a boot licking, Ayatollah appeasing President sitting in the White House more worried about his legacy doesn’t bring much comfort. If the threat of Armageddon doesn’t wake up this citizenry, I’m not sure what will.
I predict Israel will find herself alone when destroying Iran’s nuclear capability. The world should rejoice when she does so. It won’t. And it won’t surprise me in the least if Obama joins in the chorus of condemnation after the fact, probably in front of the U.N. with the rest of the feckless lackeys.
Hmmm, the last time O tried to undermine the Netanayhu gov’t, he ended up making it look a lot more mainstream to Israeli voters.
Is this just another of his weird obsessions?
Obama, the great diplomat, who has alienated almost all of our allies, now decides to strong-arm Israel? The Israelis will stand up up the present administration, realizing that fortunately, presidencies don’t last forever in this country. Thank Heaven for elections every 4 years.
I hope the recorders and cameras are rolling 24/7 in Israel, for the gaffe machine is “in the house.” Enjoy the incredibly smart, ever coherent VP, the One’s gift to Israel. Know that the situation isn’t important enough for da One to deal with personally as he is busy trying to get the economy running….sorry, that was last month’s speech, but still trying to ram ObamaCare down the throats of the citizens of the US. Just be happy that Netanyahu isn’t in the US being whisked out the back door past the garbage. Of course Netanyahu could have gotten an iPod with the One’s speeches to motivate him to do what the Precedent believes in, capitulate. So, nod your heads when he speaks, laugh at the replay on the evening news, or on youtube, resist the temptation to moon the idiot as his plane takes off, then do what is in Israel’s best interest.
“” Biden will be the highest-ranking of several senior U.S. civilian and military officials …”"
If the “highest-ranking” of “several (American) civilian and military officials” to visit the government comprised of the world’s most intelligent cabinet officers and and headed by the world’s most intelligent politician is boozy ‘Ballsup’ Biden, the most stupid person to ever poo between two shoes, pretender to the vice-president’s office and whose “rank” (if “understudy” is a rank?) is “understudy,” the relations between our nation and our only true ally on this Earth are surely at their lowest, ever.
Poor, pathetic, permanent Peter-Principle poster person, plagiarizer, hair-plugged puke and crap-head, Biden, is even too damned dumb to know how dumb he is. Let alone to be able to recognize his being in the presence of a superior intellect.
Bibi’s boys’ll have Biden’s balls on bread for breakfast!
You can bet the farm that O’Bidens trip is not a good thing for Isreal. This whole administration has been anti-Israel from day one.
A fools errand played by a 100% fool..
B. Hussein Obama hates Israel as bad as he hates Britain and the U.S.
israelis always keep their plans close to the vest. very close. biden will be told what he wants to hear or not, depending on where the israelis are in their planning stages (could be stage 4).
in any case, most americans have nothing but disgust for our criminal congress and underwater president, therefore we don’t give a crap what these jokers in d.c. have to say, or whether or not barry shows up somewhere. imagine how much the israelis don’t care.
Biden is a national disgrace, exceeded only by the man who selected him as his running mate. Biden’s flaws exceed his IQ. Obama continues to prove he is an anti-semite, and he’s also anti-American.
I don’t know who is the bigger idiot, Biden or Mitchell (oh, I’m a native of Maine and we know Mitchell too well – sorry we gave him to you). Sending either to represent a sane US policy is like having Charles Manson as a judge. What a joke.
And if Biden’s boss had an ounce of political courage, he’s be there himself instead of going to Missouri to try to sell his failed health care ideas to a closed audience. Barry is an abysmal failure.
But, then, Barry does have time to take his kids to his adopted homeland, Indonesia, so there, you have his priorities. His adopted homeland is a Muslim dictatorship, as are most Muslim countries he has visited during his first year in office. I’m sure they have a trip to Syria in their plans.
Can someone please show Barry and Joe the exit door!
Its a shame all the US has to offer to Israel at this point in time is two empty suits. Its also a shame Netanyahu has to meet with Slo Joe Biden, the dumbest man ever to sit as vice president (yes,I believe he is dumber than algore). Unfortunately, Glick is right, Slo Joe will undercut Netanyahu if he can, but maybe because he is so stupid, he won’t succeed. I can hardly wait if we will be treated to another Bidenism.
Name calling and bating/bashing have rarely succeeded in accomplishing anything. Action, civil dialogue and respectful debate are the roads to the future. Can a simple cardboard robot succeed where world leaders and educators have failed? Tune into Pax101 on Facebook or follow @Pax_101 on Twitter and decide for yourself. It’s an experiment in Israeli-Palestinian peace-brokerage and social media. Let’s keep peaceful debate and conflict resolution moving forward. Ultimately, everyone wants peace.
The VP, and White House just condemed Israel over building homes. Most Americans would not.
America will be cursed one way, or another for this action. It rains on the good, and the bad at the same time, so get ready.
Hey, I hope I’m wrong, but if the past is any indication, some really over the top weather, or earthquake will happen.
Israel cannot share borders with a country,PLO Land, committed to Israel’s destruction. Biden’s demand for such underlines his absolute lack of comprehension of the realpolitik of the arab-jew conflict. Israel faces destruction from all her neighbors and now can be assured that the obamanites will also betray her. One might wrongly suppose that the Rothschild One Worlders would support Israel. Not so. They want war, and don’t care who wins, because they will finance both sides and sell arms to both sides. They are satanists, and love money, power and status. So, they want war, and suffering and death. They seek to make this earth as much like hell as possible. Biden, Clinton,Reid, Pelosi, Cheney, Dubya, B. Hussein O.; the synagogue of satan; demons incarnate. We must find legal, moral ways to remove them from office, from positions of influence, and let their master punish them for their failures.
TWIMC: Its “shah”; not “shaw”.
I find myself holding my breath at what idiocy might come spewing out. Joe Biden is the main reason I pray that Obama lays off the smokes for another three years and stays healthy.