Joe Biden defends Israel’s actions
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Vice President Joe Biden defended Israel’s handling of the raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, departing from the Obama administration’s posture of wait and see.
Biden said Israel has an “absolute right” to defend its security interests, according to a transcript Politico obtained of an interview that was to be broadcast June 2 on the Charlie Rose show on Bloomberg TV.
“It’s legitimate for Israel to say, ‘I don’t know what’s on that ship. These guys [Hamas] are dropping … rockets on my people,’ ” Biden said.
Biden repeated the Obama administration’s position that Israel should ease the Gaza blockade for humanitarian reasons, and should investigate the incident.
He also emphasized that he understood Israeli concerns.
“As we put pressure, and the world put pressure on Israel to let material go into Gaza to help those people who are suffering, the ordinary Palestinians there, what happened?” he asked. “Hamas would confiscate it, put it in a warehouse, sell it.”
Biden’s defense of Israel differed in tone from other Obama administration statements that reserved comment until an investigation uncovers the facts. — jta
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06/03/2010 at 04:05 PM
Thank you for saying loud what many of us think. Thank you for representing the voice of reason.
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