by DebkaFile
Political observers expect Biden to continue to stay in the wings of the campaign and watch Hillary get tied in knots over events in her past, not least the affair of the private emails she sent as Secretary of State.
US Vice President Joe Biden will start his five-day Middle East tour in Israel Tuesday, March 8, by presenting the multibillion financial and defense aid package promised by the Obama administration to redress the imbalance in Israeli security generated by the nuclear deal with Iran. debkafile’s sources report that Prime Minister’s Binyamin Netanyahu was also quietly tipped from Biden’s close circle that he may decide to use the handover of this package as the opening shot of his run for the Democratic presidential nomination, despite past repudiations.
Our sources in Jerusalem reveal that Israeli officials in charge of staging the Biden visit were directed to handle the visitor to all intents and purposes as a candidate running for election to the White House on Nov. 4.
His presentation of an impressive US assistance program is meant to convey President Barack Obama’s desire to straighten out his rocky relations with Netanyahu before his departure, while also portraying his vice president to American Jews as a successor who will continue to look after Israel’s security interests.
The two governments have been negotiating for months on the size of US military assistance committed by Washington for preserving Israel’s qualitative military and security edge in the next decade, in the course of which Iran and the Islamic Republic’ will substantially upgrade the military capabilities of its armed forces and radical Revolutionary Guards Corps.
In recent talks between US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Israel put in a bid for $50 billion to be spread over 10 years, so raising the US military aid package for Israel from $3.5 bn to $5 bn a year. The Americans said this sum required further negotiation.
According to sources close to the prime minister, the vice president will be bringing the administration’s compromise proposal of between $40 billion and $50 billion, to be spread out over 13-15 years. He will also throw in to the deal US weaponry and items of cutting-edge military technology withheld hitherto from the IDF.
That list was agreed last week when Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff sat down in Tel Aviv with IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gady Eisenkot and his top officers.
As for Biden’s intentions, it should be noted that, although in February, he denied intending to contest the presidential nomination, he surprised political observers when, on Feb. 19, he sharply criticized the campaigns run by Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders. He accused them of “doom and gloom” and not doing enough to combat the idea that the country is in decline.
Talking to a Democratic Party audience in California on Feb. 28, Biden congratulated Clinton on her successes in the primaries.
Political observers who are familiar with the vice president’s thought patterns say those comments were well calculated. They expect him to continue to stay in the wings of the campaign and watch Hillary get tied in knots over events in her past, not least the affair of the private emails she sent as Secretary of State. He expects her to be forced by the baggage she carries to give up her run for the presidency. Biden will then step in as the shining savior of the Democratic Party. He and many of his backers are sure that he is the only Democrat capable of stopping Donald Trump’s inexorable run for the presidency.
At the annual Gridiron Club anniversary dinner Saturday night, March 5, Joe Biden was reported to have quoted a reputed comment by Winston Churchill, “When eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber,” he said, adding: "Our kids are watching. The world is watching. The American people are better than this.”
These remarks indicate that Biden is guided by a strong sense of mission.
DebkaFile
Source: http://www.debka.com/article/25280/Is-Biden-s-Israel-visit-opening-shot-for-White-House-bid-
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1 comment:
As an American, I have always avoided partisan politics concerning the General Election voting for our President. The President-elect is whom will lead America properly that holds value to me. Because of the miserable performance of the Obama/Biden Administration of our Federal Government, VP Biden does not stand on solid ground to make a bid for President of the United States. He failed to garner even mediocre support in two prior candidacies for this same office. In my opinion, he is a joke.
Hillary Clinton is under investigation for criminal wrong doing by our FBI, and even if the Administration prevents resolution of this criminal investigation until after the General Election, she has not a snow ball's chance in the Negev of being elected.
Bernard Sanders is a Socialist left-liberal. My opinion of this type of politician was formed before I was eligible to vote, many years ago. I was watching interviews on television after some rioting in Watts, CA, USA. The interviewed residents advocated the rioting as a way to socially re-dress economic hardships. One lady complained her interview that her baby had to sleep in a box because she could not afford a baby crib sleeper bed. The box(baby's bed) was left-over from her recent purchase of the colour television which was "on" in the background of the room where she was being interviewed. The interview was being conducted in Federal Subsidized Housing for people that were experiencing un-do economic hardship. This is one of the primary foundation stones for my opinion of Socialist government policy. So in conclusion, my opinions of potential blue (democratic political party) options are very low.
Although, in my opinion, Don Trump's candidacy revolves around the plot of a reality television show, this election is going to prove quite defining in regards to the American voter's intelligence and attention span. Vintage Looney Tunes cartoons had a concluding "Porky Pig" monologue that is very apropos at the moment, "He, he, he, (laughter) That's all folks."
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