Israel must accept Palestinian state, Joe Biden says

Mr Biden used an address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee – the leading pro-Israeli lobby group in the United States – to deliver a tough message to Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s new prime minister.

“Israel has to work for a two-state solution,” said Mr Biden. “You’re not going to like my saying this, but not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement.”

Mr Netanyahu, by contrast, has not accepted the principle of a Palestinian state and his government plans to build more homes inside existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It has also refrained from removing any of the illegal settler outposts that Mr Biden mentioned. Meanwhile, hundreds of checkpoints scattered across the West Bank continue to restrict the freedom of movement of Palestinians.

Mr Biden’s comments brought the differences between America and Israel into the open. They came ahead of Mr Netanyahu’s first official visit to Washington, expected later this month.

The new prime minister, who leads a coalition government in which Right-wing parties have the most influence, told the AIPAC conference by satellite that he was ready to begin peace talks with the Palestinians “the sooner the better”. But Mr Netanyahu made no reference to the possibility of a Palestinian state.

Instead, he outlined a “triple track” approach to peace, a strategy that emphasises political, economic and security schemes to resolve the conflict.

On the economic track, Mr Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to remove as many obstacles as possible to advance the Palestinian economy.

“I want to see Palestinian youngsters know that they have a future,” he said. “I want them not to be hostage to a cult of death, and despair and hate.”

Privately, British officials predict that Mr Netanyahu will eventually accept the principle of Palestinian statehood, largely because of American pressure. But they believe he will hold out for a while in order to avoid being seen to give way easily.

In his speech, Mr Biden was careful to call on the Palestinian Authority to “combat terror and incitement against Israel”. He stressed that the US would never abandon its commitment to Israel’s security. Mr Biden also sought to reassure Israel’s supporters that the administration’s conciliatory approach towards Iran was not open-ended and the goal of preventing the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear weapons remained unchanged. “We are intensely focused on avoiding the grave danger … of a nuclear armed Iran,” said the Vice-President.

Meanwhile, a United Nations inquiry was deeply critical of the Israeli army’s behaviour during the offensive in the Gaza Strip in January.

It blamed Israeli forces for six of the nine incidents when UN buildings in Gaza were attacked, causing death and injuries to people sheltering inside.

Source:  www.telegraph.co.uk, 05 May 2009