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| Biden Condemns Palestinian Violence in Implicit Rebuke to Abbas | Biden Condemns Palestinian Violence in Implicit Rebuke to Abbas |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| JERUSALEM — In an unusually stinging critique, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday said the United States not only deplored a recent wave of Palestinian attacks in Israel but also “condemns the failure to condemn these acts.” | |
| It appeared to be a veiled reference to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, whom Mr. Biden was scheduled to meet hours later. | |
| Mr. Biden made the pointed statement as he stood beside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, one day after a Palestinian man fatally stabbed an American graduate student and injured several other tourists and Israelis not far from where Mr. Biden was meeting with a former Israeli president, Shimon Peres. | |
| “This cannot become an accepted modus operandi,” Mr. Biden said. “This cannot be viewed by civilized leaders as an appropriate way in which to behave.” | “This cannot become an accepted modus operandi,” Mr. Biden said. “This cannot be viewed by civilized leaders as an appropriate way in which to behave.” |
| Mr. Biden was scheduled to meet with Mr. Abbas at the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, later on Wednesday. | |
| Mr. Biden’s two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories came against the backdrop of simmering tensions between the Netanyahu government and the White House, including a canceled meeting with President Obama and unresolved differences over a new American military aid package for Israel. | Mr. Biden’s two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories came against the backdrop of simmering tensions between the Netanyahu government and the White House, including a canceled meeting with President Obama and unresolved differences over a new American military aid package for Israel. |
| But the disagreements were quickly overtaken by a sudden upsurge in Palestinian violence, including the multiple stabbing attack that killed the American citizen — Taylor Force, 28, a first-year M.B.A. student at Vanderbilt University — soon after Mr. Biden landed on Tuesday. | |
| The stabbing occurred along a popular seafront promenade in Jaffa, abutting Tel Aviv, and not far from a restaurant where Mr. Biden’s wife, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were having dinner. | |
| “It just brings home that it can happen anywhere at any time,” Mr. Biden said of the violence. | “It just brings home that it can happen anywhere at any time,” Mr. Biden said of the violence. |
| Mr. Netanyahu said he appreciated Mr. Biden’s “strong condemnation of terrorism.” | Mr. Netanyahu said he appreciated Mr. Biden’s “strong condemnation of terrorism.” |
| “Nothing justifies these attacks,” Mr. Netanyahu added. “But unfortunately President Abbas has not only refused to condemn these terrorist attacks, his Fatah party actually praised the murderer of this American citizen as a Palestinian martyr and a hero.” | “Nothing justifies these attacks,” Mr. Netanyahu added. “But unfortunately President Abbas has not only refused to condemn these terrorist attacks, his Fatah party actually praised the murderer of this American citizen as a Palestinian martyr and a hero.” |
| Mr. Force had served as an Army officer, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was the latest victim in a five-month wave of Palestinian attacks that have already killed about 30 Israelis, a Palestinian bystander and an American student, Ezra Schwartz, 18, who was fatally shot in the West Bank in November. About 180 Palestinians have also been killed, most while carrying out attacks, or suspected of attempting attacks, and others in clashes with Israeli security forces. | |
| Condemnations aside, the spike in deadly violence also highlighted the gaping distance between Mr. Netanyahu’s government and the Obama administration regarding the impasse in the peace process with the Palestinians. And it was likely to fan Israeli concerns over a possible push by Mr. Obama to lay down the outlines of an agreement for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the final leg of his term. | Condemnations aside, the spike in deadly violence also highlighted the gaping distance between Mr. Netanyahu’s government and the Obama administration regarding the impasse in the peace process with the Palestinians. And it was likely to fan Israeli concerns over a possible push by Mr. Obama to lay down the outlines of an agreement for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the final leg of his term. |
| “The status quo has to break somewhere along the line, in terms of a two-state solution,” Mr. Biden said at the joint news conference. | “The status quo has to break somewhere along the line, in terms of a two-state solution,” Mr. Biden said at the joint news conference. |
| “Even though it may be hard to see the path ahead, we continue to encourage all sides to take steps to move back toward the path of peace,” he added. | “Even though it may be hard to see the path ahead, we continue to encourage all sides to take steps to move back toward the path of peace,” he added. |
| Mr. Netanyahu made it clear that he did not think this was the time to advance Palestinian statehood. | Mr. Netanyahu made it clear that he did not think this was the time to advance Palestinian statehood. |
| Pointing to the challenges Israel faces, he said, “The first one is the persistent incitement in Palestinian society that glorifies murderers of innocent people and calls for a Palestinian state not to live in peace with Israel, but to replace Israel.” | Pointing to the challenges Israel faces, he said, “The first one is the persistent incitement in Palestinian society that glorifies murderers of innocent people and calls for a Palestinian state not to live in peace with Israel, but to replace Israel.” |
| The rush of Palestinian shooting and knife attacks continued on Wednesday. Two armed Palestinian men in a car fired shots in a Jerusalem suburb, according to the police, then drove to a bustling thoroughfare outside the Old City, where Israeli police officers fatally shot them. A resident of East Jerusalem was also badly injured. Soon after, a teenage Palestinian assailant tried to stab Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank and was killed at the scene, and a Palestinian woman entered a Jewish settlement with a knife and was arrested, according to the Israeli authorities. | The rush of Palestinian shooting and knife attacks continued on Wednesday. Two armed Palestinian men in a car fired shots in a Jerusalem suburb, according to the police, then drove to a bustling thoroughfare outside the Old City, where Israeli police officers fatally shot them. A resident of East Jerusalem was also badly injured. Soon after, a teenage Palestinian assailant tried to stab Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank and was killed at the scene, and a Palestinian woman entered a Jewish settlement with a knife and was arrested, according to the Israeli authorities. |
| Mr. Netanyahu said his government had taken many steps in recent months against Palestinian violence and would now be taking “even stronger measures.” | Mr. Netanyahu said his government had taken many steps in recent months against Palestinian violence and would now be taking “even stronger measures.” |
| The Israeli government plans to close gaps in its West Bank barrier to prevent Palestinians without permits from entering Israel, and to try to clamp down on news media broadcasting incitement to violence. Some government ministers have called for the families of Palestinian assailants from the West Bank or Jerusalem to be banished to Gaza. | The Israeli government plans to close gaps in its West Bank barrier to prevent Palestinians without permits from entering Israel, and to try to clamp down on news media broadcasting incitement to violence. Some government ministers have called for the families of Palestinian assailants from the West Bank or Jerusalem to be banished to Gaza. |
| Hanna Amira, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, told Voice of Palestine radio that he thought the solution should be “political and not security-oriented.” | Hanna Amira, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, told Voice of Palestine radio that he thought the solution should be “political and not security-oriented.” |
| “What is happening today is a Palestinian reaction to Israel’s occupation and the lack of any political horizon,” he said, ahead of Mr. Biden’s meeting with Mr. Abbas. Mr. Amira called on the United States “to pressure Israel into halting its occupation measures.” | “What is happening today is a Palestinian reaction to Israel’s occupation and the lack of any political horizon,” he said, ahead of Mr. Biden’s meeting with Mr. Abbas. Mr. Amira called on the United States “to pressure Israel into halting its occupation measures.” |