By Wesley Pruden "Good old Joe. The vice president is off to Israel to play kissy-face with hosts who are in no mood to pucker up. And for good reason: There's abundant evidence that President Obama is no friend of the Jewish state, and the Israelis must decide whether to believe Joe Biden or their own eyes and ears.
This White House puts great store in its ability to make millions believe nine impossible things before breakfast, but the Israelis are a tougher audience than any Mr. Obama faces at home. When your survival is at stake, it's difficult take words, no matter how thick the butter on them, as the equal of action. "What you do speaks so loud," as the saying goes, "I can't hear what you say."
The Palestinians are trying to make hay, with the help of compliant Western media, of the announcement that the Israelis have approved construction of 112 new apartments in "an ultra-orthodox" settlement on the West Bank, and the Palestinian complaint that this violates an Israeli undertaking to restrain further development of settlements will complicate the veep's mission, but not by much. The Palestinians will always find a reason to find a fly on the pastrami, and the purpose of the Biden visit is to warn, harshly, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to be nice about the West doing nothing about Iran."
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