The West Bank, Mr. VP? Actually, you were at Yad Vashem

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
biden tel aviv university 311 (photo credit: AP)
biden tel aviv university 311
(photo credit: AP)
US Vice President Joe Biden, who has a history of embarrassing verbal gaffes, made another one on Thursday when he inadvertently and indirectly referred to west Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum as the “West Bank” in his speech at Tel Aviv University.
Biden was thanking Prime Minister Netanyahu for clarifying that a building project in the northeastern Ramat Shlomo neighborhood would not be built for several years.
“That’s significant, because it gives negotiations the time to resolvethis, as well as other outstanding issues,” Biden said. “Because whenit was announced, I was on the West Bank. Everyone there thought it hadmeant immediately the resumption of the construction of 1,600 newunits.”
When Biden heard about the Ramat Shlomo announcement, he was actuallyat Yad Vashem following a visit to nearby Mount Herzl and not in theWest Bank, which he did not visit until the next day, but he apparentlymisremembered his itinerary.
A source close to Netanyahu said he did not think for a moment thatBiden believed Yad Vashem was in the West Bank. “I have no doubt thathe made a simple mistake.”