Vice President Joe Biden will speak next Monday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, just as Iran’s nuclear program is taking center stage once again, with rumors that it is closer than ever to producing a nuclear weapon.
Israel has been insisting that Iran’s nuclear program poses an existential threat which must be stopped by any means available, including a military strike. Biden will undoubtedly express the U.S. most current policy regarding this threat.
The Obama administration has expressed its preference for a diplomatic solution, but also committed to military intervention should all the other means fail.
President Barack Obama, who addressed group last year, will visit Israel later this month and will, therefore, skip the AIPAC meeting this year.
The annual AIPAC Policy Conference is the largest gathering of the pro-Israel movement. Thousands of participants come from all 50 states to take part in “three of the most important days affecting Israel’s future,” as the organization’s website puts it.
The 2013 conference will be held March 3-5, in Washington, D.C. AIPAC has published the names of the speakers who will appear at its podium next week, with the following VIPs topping the list:
The Honorable Joe Biden
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak,
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird
House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (R-TX)
House of Representatives Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Senate Armed Services Committee Member John McCain (R-AZ)
Senate Armed Services Committee Member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
Ambassador Dennis Ross
Elliott Abrams