Former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden addresses the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, March 1, 2020. Photo: AIPAC.

Former US vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC on Sunday that Israel’s annexation and settlement policies are undermining support for the Jewish state among young people.

Biden’s remarks to AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference in Washington, DC strongly criticized what appears to be growing momentum toward unilateral Israeli annexation of large parts of the West Bank.

“Israel has to stop the threats of annexation and settlement activity,” he said. “That’s going to choke off any hope for peace.”

Biden warned that such moves were damaging Israel’s cause in the US, saying, “To be frank, those moves are taking Israel further from its democratic values, undermining support for Israel in the United States, especially among young people of both political parties. That’s dangerous. We can’t let that happen.”

“You don’t have to be anti-Palestinian to be pro-Israeli,” Biden told the conference. “Israeli and Palestinian children are equally deserving of safety, security, and an opportunity to pursue their dreams.”

However, Biden said, the Palestinians must take steps to advance peace as well.

“Palestinians need to eradicate incitement on the West Bank,” he said. “They need to end the rocket attacks from Gaza. They need to accept once and for all the reality and the right of a secure democratic and Jewish State of Israel in the Middle East.”