Biden with Obama. Committed to Israel
Photo: Reuters
Biden: Israel will be more protected with Obama
Democratic vice presidential candidate addresses Jewish pensioners near Miami, declares Jewish state's security to improve if Obama is elected president
WASHINGTON – Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential candidate,
appeared Tuesday evening before Jewish voters in south Florida and declared that Israel's security would be improved if Barack Obama is elected US president.
Israel is not as safe today in the world as it was eight years ago, Biden said, promising that the Democrats will make it more protected.
He further stated that there is no doubt that Obama supports Israel, despite rumors spread by his rivals.
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Speaking at a home for the elderly in Deerfield Beach, north of Miami, the senator noted that Hamas and Hizbullah have grown stronger and that Iran is working to attain a nuclear weapon.
With a stronger and more influential America, Israel will be stronger, he added.
Biden reminded the audience, which was mostly comprised of Jewish pensioners, that he had come to Israel's defense in the past, even when this wasn't such a popular thing among American lawmakers. Among other things, the senator initiated a bill preventing US aid to a Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority, which was adopted in December 2006.
I was the original author of the law against Palestinian terror, he told the Jewish voters, adding that he was one of the only US senators who defended Israel on television over the use of cluster bombs.
The Democratic candidate drew thunderous applause when he spoke of his commitment to Israel. His address included some words in Yiddish, and he condemned the "malicious and false rumors on the internet" against Barack Obama, whom he defined as "a strong supporter of Israel."
According to Biden, he would not have given up his position in the House of Representatives had he not been completely certain of Obama's support for Israel.
Biden, who has been serving as senator for the past 36 years, has demonstrated his sweeping support for Israel throughout his service in the House of Representatives. He met with nine Israeli prime ministers, from Golda Meir to Ehud Olmert, and paid a series of visits to the Jewish state between the 1973 Yom Kippur War and his last visit on January 2006.
Biden also expressed his support for Israel during the Second Lebanon War and worked to grant military and economic aid to Israel as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee .
