All Politics is Local: Biden, Netanyahu and Tip O'Neil

This pedestrian bridge across a highway in Petach Tikva was finished but not in service for almost a year. Apparently the land where one of the bridge's column was built belonged to a private citizen. They were not willing to sell to the city and therefore a judge did not approve the use of the bridge. Tip you were right: "all politics is local" / © 2010

Tip O'Neil's famous quote: "all politics is local" comes to mind this week. I am commenting on Joe Biden the US VP's uncomfortable position with regard to Jerusalem's city planning board approval of 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem [Haaretz/EN]. Joe Biden came to make nice with Netanyahu and the Israeli leaders. Since peace negotiations with the Palestinians is crawling at a snail's pace, everyone wants to get the credit for bringing the two sides together. US president Obama is busy with domestic issues, he does not seem to be giving the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations any attention. Hillery Clinton tried her hand but did not win the hearts or minds of either side. So Biden was sent to give the negotiations a kick start. Biden came to make sure the Israeli's are not aggravating the Palestinians by building outside the green line. This is in keeping with the last agreement between the sides to cool down the bickering. On Biden's second day in Jerusalem the city's building authority announced approval of 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem and up to 50,000 units outside the green line going forward a decade from now [Haaretz article]. This seemed like a planned "slap in the face" of Biden. Not so say most Jerusalem residents, Biden is not part of the equation this time and neither are the Palestinians

I think that this time Tip O'Neil's quote takes precedence over global politics. The issue to Jerusalem residents and especially to religious Jews has nothing to do with Biden, his visit or even the Palestinian-Israel negotiations. The issues is simply a practical matter of building where there is land and where people want to live. The timing may have been somewhat coincidental, but it is hard to imagine setting up a multi-year building approval process in Jerusalem to coincide with a visit from an American VP.

To Americans it may seem like there are hidden agendas and political back stabbing at the expense of Biden. No one is that naive to believe in the total coincidence of the building approval announcement. Israel has plenty of competing interests and in this case they are certainly at each other's throat. But the housing situation in Jerusalem is definitely not a situation where Biden was targeted. Actually, most Israelis were surprised of Biden's reaction. He apparently kept Netanyahu waiting two hours while writing a strong criticism of the situation to Netanyahu. The mood between Biden and Netanyahu turned from friendly to hostile. Hours later Biden was heading to the Palestinian Authority just miles away and again criticized Israel for aggravating the delicate situation between the two sides.

This situation brings up a painful point: "Can global politics really influence local politics?" READ THAT AGAIN, and AGAIN... Can Joe Biden do anything about the building "PROBLEM" in Jerusalem? Can even Netanyahu, the head of state which needs to negotiate treaties and send soldiers to war NEGOTIATE with the people who want to live in Jerusalem? Good question... (THANKS 'Tip' 4 small words, infinite wisdom)