Vice President Joe Biden condemned Tuesday’s Palestinian terror attack. Photo: Maxine Dovere.

JNS.org – Upon arriving in Israel on Tuesday, US Vice President Joseph Biden swiftly condemned the Palestinian terror attack that killed a visiting American business school student and wounded 11 Israelis in the port city of Jaffa.

Biden, who is on a tour of Middle East countries, landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday evening. He was greeted by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Israeli Ambassador to US Ron Dermer and US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro. Biden then headed to Jaffa to meet with former Israeli president Shimon Peres at the Peres Center for Peace.

Around the same time that Biden arrived at the Peres Center, the Palestinian terrorist carried out the Jaffa attack just down the road. Biden told reporters at the Peres Center, “We have absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to the security of Israel. I hope we can make some progress.”

Biden’s office later added that during his meeting with Peres, the vice president “condemned in the strongest possible terms the brutal attack” in Jaffa.

“He expressed his sorrow at the tragic loss of American life and offered his condolences to the family of the American citizen murdered in the attack, as well as his wishes for a full and quick recovery for the wounded,” Biden’s office said.

The American victim of the Jaffa attack was identified as Taylor Force, 29, a student at the Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management who was visiting Israel as part of a school trip.

The US State Department “in strongest possible terms” also condemned the “outrageous terrorist attacks in Jaffa, Petah Tikvah and Jerusalem, which tragically claimed the life of US citizen Taylor Allen Force and left many others severely injured.”

“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Taylor and all those affected by these senseless attacks, and we wish a speedy recovery for the injured,’ the State Department added.