Israel Must Rebuild Trust with Washington

Israel could not have asked for a more positive beginning to US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit this week. Positive body language abounded, with all the requisite hugs, warm gestures, smiles and general good vibes.

There were verbalized emotions, such as the vice president’s comment to President Shimon Peres that Israel “captured my heart.” Biden even made declarations with diplomatic ramifications. The cornerstone of the Israeli-US relationship, he said on Tuesday, “is our absolute, total unvarnished commitment toIsrael’s security,” and then managed to top even that with the adamant declaration that “there is no space between the US and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security.”

After almost a year of distance – most notably contrasted with President Barack Obama’s June 2009 Cairo speech that focused on reconciliation with Islam – the Biden trip, with its private meetings aimed principally at coordinating strategy for thwarting Iran’s nuclear drive, was turning out to be everything that an embattled, nervous Jewish nation could dream of.