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"American support for
Israel is not just an act of
friendship; its an act of
fundamental national
self-interest on the part of
the United States."

- Vice President Biden

Unflinching Relations

Vice president ardently defends America's support for Israel.

Robert Sklar
Contributing Editor

A

merica stands resolutely with
Israel in assuring its security
and legitimacy, Vice President
Joe Biden declared in the keynote address
at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah annual dinner
Sunday night.
"If there were not an Israel, we would
have to invent one he said from a dais
flanked by Secret Service agents. Dais
dignitaries included Gov. Rick Snyder, U.S.
Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow,
and U.S. Reps. Sander Levin, Hansen
Clarke, Thaddeus McCotter and Tim
Walberg.
"American support for Israel is not just
an act of friendship; its an act of funda-
mental national self-interest on the part of
the United States, a key component of our
broader efforts to secure this region and
the wider world as well as secure our own
security. President Obama feels the same
way," Biden said.
Stabenow introduced Biden as a good
friend of Michigan who helped save the
auto industry. She called him an advocate
for education — a man "who has served
this country for nearly 40 years with dig-
nity, passion and devotion to the highest
ideals of what makes America great."
While Biden's pro-Zionist message
resonated with the 2,400 people in the
Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Hotel
Renaissance Center in Downtown Detroit,
some wondered if the vice president's boss
felt as strongly about the Jewish state.
Republican presidential candidates have
questioned Obama's respect for Israel.
Notably, Biden ignored his own harsh
and controversial stance opposing clem-
ency for Jonathan Pollard, the former U.S.

8

November 17 4. 2011

Navy civilian intelligence analyst convicted
of spying for Israel and sentenced in 1987
to life in prison. He's the only person in
U.S. history to get a life sentence for giving
classified information to a U.S. ally.
Biden's icebreaker was a not-so-subtle
reminder of his pro-Israel voting record
and his Jewish outreach while in the
U.S. Senate despite Delaware having a
tiny Jewish population. "I'm probably
one of the few Christian members of the
Congress who can say the motzi," he said.
"I've attended more Jewish dinners than
some of you have. I've raised more money
for AIPAC than some of you have. I have
spent more money raising money for the
Federation than some of you have. You
think I'm kidding, don't you? I'm not."
Biden learned at the dinner table from
his father, a righteous Christian Zionist,
"about the oppression and genocide com-
mitted against the Jews and the historic
ties between the Jewish people and the
Land of Israel." When each was 15, Biden
took his two sons to Dachau, the Nazi
Germany concentration camp, "because
I wanted them to understand what man-
kind is capable of, the incredible inhu-
manity."

A Grave Danger
Biden, Obama's liaison to U.S. Jewry,
stressed that the threat to delegitimize
Israel is greater than at any time since he
was elected to the Senate from Delaware in
1972 at age 29: "It's occurring in Europe.
It's occurring around the world."
Saying Obama is as committed as any
president to Israel, Biden cited the 2009
speech in Cairo where Obama told the
Muslim and Arab worlds that "America's
bond with Israel is unbreakable."
Biden also quoted from Obama's U.N.

General Assembly remarks in September:
"Israel is surrounded by neighbors that
have waged repeated wars against it.
Israel's citizens have been killed by rock-
ets fired at their houses and by suicide
bombers on their buses. Israel's children
come of age knowing that throughout the
region, other children are taught to hate
them. Israel, a small country with less
than 8 million people, looks out at a world
where leaders of much-larger nations
threaten it and are committed to wiping it
off the face of the map."
Against a backdrop of concerns about
a nuclear-armed Iran, Hamas armed with
sophisticated rockets, Hezbollah armed
with longer-range missiles as well as the
volatile Arab Spring, America recognizes
the stakes are higher — to the tune of "$3
billion in annual assistance for Israel, the
most ever',' Biden said. "On top of that,
the president asked for an additional $205
million to help Israel produce the Iron
Dome, the short-range rocket defense sys-
tem that has intercepted dozens of rockets
along the Gaza border — rockets that
could have struck hospitals, schools or
homes. And it is now being installed along
the Lebanese border.
"It's not just the technology:' Biden
said, "but the human relationships that
will ensure Israel's qualitative military
edge. Since taking office, we've launched
the most comprehensive and meaning-
ful strategic and operational consulta-
tions across all levels of our government,
unprecedented in their scope, frequency
and character."

Bucking Tehran
America is determined to deter Iran's
acquisition of nuclear weapons. Sanctions
need to be tougher, but they are working,

Biden said. Even President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad acknowledged to his parlia-
ment that the West's "extensive and das-
tardly sanctions" have severely disrupted
Iran's banking and trade activities.
Tactical disagreements with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over
policy will never snap America's ties with
Israel, Biden said, recounting how the
Obama administration:
• Stood with Israel when the Goldstone
Report on the 2008-09 Gaza War was
issued "because we will always support
Israel's right to self-defense";
• Boycotted 10-year anniversary events
for the 2001 World Conference Against
Racism, which singled out Israel;
• Rejected a U.N. Security Council reso-
lution claiming Israeli settlements are
illegal;
• Committed to preventing the U.N. and
its agencies from further isolating Israel
by endorsing a Palestinian bid for state-
hood without a Palestinian-Israeli negoti-
ated agreement;
• Opposed UNESCO granting full mem-
bership to the Palestinian Authority.

The Jewish Homeland
Biden told how he visited Israel for the
first time as a young senator on the eve
of the Yom Kippur War. As a long briefing
with Prime Minister Golda Meir closed
with a photo opportunity for the press,
Biden confided to her he was worried
about the region. He said she responded:
"We Israelis have a secret weapon in our
conflict with the Arabs. We have nowhere
else to go."
"We know Israel has nowhere else to
go:' Biden concluded at the $250-per-plate
Yeshiva dinner celebrating the 97-year-old,
740-student Jewish day school based in
Southfield. He vowed the Obama admin-
istration would "make sure that Israel can
stay exactly where she is — as a Jewish
state, secure and free."
Biden impressed dinner co-chair
Mandell "Bill" Berman of Franklin,
Detroit Jewry's elder statesman. "The vice
president speaks for the president and this
position he took on Israel, one we've heard
before from him, was very strong, espe-
cially in this current international political
environment. I've just never heard it from
President Obama — and I wish I could."
Harvey Bronstein of Southfield felt
Biden affirmed not only his longstanding
ties with the Jewish community, but also
the president's support for Israel.
Brett Koretzky of Bloomfield Hills said,
politics aside, Biden's presence as dinner
keynoter confirmed "the strength and
influence of our Yeshiva. The number of
distinguished guests in attendance was
a testament to the fact that Michigan's
Jewish community clearly has the ability
to shape the direction America takes." Li

More on the Yeshiva dinner in a following JN.

