US Vice President Joe Biden, who is in Israel for ‘proximity talks’ between Israelis and the Palestinians, has reiterated Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security.

There is absolutely no space between the two sides in terms of Israel’s security, Biden assured in a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

The Israeli president for his turn said Tel Aviv trusted the US administration and also called on Washington to “protect Israel against Tehran’s nuclear threat.”

Biden, who is on a four-day tour of the Middle East, expressed optimism on the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

“I hope the beginning of what is referred to as indirect or proximity talks, I hope it is a vehicle, a vehicle by which we can begin to allay that layer of mistrust that has built up in the last several years,” Biden said.

Biden, who also met with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, is due to travel to the West Bank on Wednesday to hold talks with the Palestinian Authority leaders.

The visit comes one day after Israeli authorities announced plans to build 112 new housing units in the occupied West Bank, prompting warnings from the Palestinian negotiators against sabotaging peace efforts.

The construction plans come in contrast to a 10-month freeze Israel announced in November on its illegal settlement activity in the West Bank.

But Washington defended the decision, saying it was not in breach of the November moratorium.

Iran’s President is scheduled to begin his tour to five countries in Africa and South America on Sunday days after the Israeli president ended a tour aimed at rallying support against Tehran.

“Iranian President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) will visit Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Senegal and Gambia,” IRINN reported on Sunday.

“Ahmadinejad is slated to visit Gambia in the first leg of his five-day trip,” it added.

He will then visit Brazil on the second day. Bolivia, Venezuela and Senegal will be the next targets.

Ahmadinejad’s tour is aimed at boosting political and economic ties with the five African and South American countries.

Israeli President Shimon Peres’s week-long visit to Brazil and Argentina, the first trip to the countries after 40 and 20 years respectively, comes amid Iran’s amicable relationship with Latin American countries.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has thrown his weight behind Iran’s efforts to develop a nuclear program aimed at peaceful purposes in September’s UN gathering in New York.

Iran’s close ties with Latin America and particularly Brazil, the fifth largest country, has been a cause of major concern both for Israel and its staunch ally, the US.

A day after Iran’s ambassador to Brazil announced that Ahmadinejad and a large entourage of 110 representatives from 65 companies were to visit Brasilia early May 2009, US Secretary of State dubbed the development as “quite disturbing.”

Blaming US President Barack Obama’s predecessor for “Iran gains” in the region, the top US diplomat noted “I don’t think in today’s world, where it’s a multi-polar world, where we are competing for attention and relationships with the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, that it’s in our interest to turn our backs on our own hemisphere.”

The Israeli president’s visit to the two Latin American countries, home to the largest Jewish community in the region, also led to angry demonstrations against the trip.

Demonstrators denounced Tel Aviv’s deadly offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip which killed more than 1400 people, a large number of them women and children.

In Argentina, protestors carried placards which read “Get out of Argentina, murderer Shimon Peres”, “Death to Zionist-fascist Israel, officer of American imperialism in the Middle East, murderers of the Palestinian people!”.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Israeli President had been hailed as “Shimon Hitler”, during protests. Demonstrators carried placards showing Peres, sporting a short Hitlerian mustache standing next to an Israeli flag upon which a swastika had been drawn.

Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators gathered in the square opposite the Argentinean parliament in Buenos Aires to protest President Shimon Peres’ visit to Argentina.

“It’s a disgrace that the president of our country is meeting today with the child-murderer, Shimon Peres… There are thousands of people who came here today to protest against the hospitality shown to a representative of an occupying and oppressive government,” one of the protestors said.

The protestors carried pictures and placards glorifying Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The signs read “Get out of Argentina, murderer Shimon Peres”, while others said “Death to Zionist-fascist Israel, officer of American imperialism in the Middle East, murderers of the Palestinian people!” the signs also included pictures of Palestinian children killed during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of the year.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israel’s land, sea and air offensive waged on the Gaza Strip. The assault also inflicted $1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy.

The Israeli President had earlier been hailed as “Shimon Hitler” in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during protests. Demonstrators carried signs showing Peres, sporting a short Hitlerian mustache standing next to an Israeli flag upon which a swastika had been drawn. The caption on the signs read “Shimon Hitler”.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has resisted Israeli pressure over an upcoming visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to his country.

“You do not build peace if you do not talk to all political and religious forces, those that want peace and those that oppose peace,” DPA quoted Lula as saying at a joint press conference with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Brasilia.

“We need to talk more and to find more partners who want to help in peace-building in the Middle East. And we do not refuse to talk to anyone, as long as in that chat we can get a word, or at least a comma, that might help build peace,” he said.

“You know that there will be no peace without political concessions,” the Brazilian President said, addressing Peres directly.

Ahmadinejad is expected in Brazil on November 23.

As the Iranian president is scheduled to set out on a state visit to Brazil in two weeks, Israeli President Shimon Peres has urged Brasilia to use its growing clout to curb Iran’s nuclear work.

“There needs to be a voice against destruction and against terror, a clear voice. I know that Brazil rejects threats, destruction, rejects terror, and the clear voice of Brazil has a strong echo in the entire world,” Peres said in a speech to the Brazilian Congress on Tuesday.

He claimed Iran was a ‘global danger’ and called on the South American powerhouse to play a role in international efforts to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to visit Brazil on November 23 to improve the cordial relations between Tehran and Brasilia, who share the same stance on peaceful nuclear activities.

“I don’t want to argue about the president of Iran on Brazilian soil, but we think his policies are a global danger,” Peres said.

“I cannot ignore that Iran makes weapons and wants to destroy Israel,” he added.

Iran faces pressure to halt its nuclear enrichment, as world powers claim its program is aimed at building a nuclear bomb.

Along with world powers, Israel — the sole possessor of a nuclear warhead in the Middle East — accuses Iran of efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, maintaining that a ‘nuclear Iran’ is the prime existential threat to its security.

Tehran, however, has denied seeking nuclear weapons and called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has defended Iran’s right to a peaceful nuclear program and opposed imposing sanctions against the country.

In September, he urged the West to stop pushing Iran over its nuclear program and called for dialogue and engagement with Iran to foster peace.

Israeli President Shimon Peres has downplayed the chances of an Israeli strike against Iran, saying that the US should be the leader in dealing with Iran.

“Iran is a problem for the world. I don’t think Israel has to monopolize it. I don’t think we have to jump ahead and claim to be a leader on that issue,” Peres told in an interview with the Daily Telegraph on Thursday.

“The world has to let President Obama find a solution by way of sanctions and diplomacy.” Peres added.

Israel, which is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, has repeatedly voiced its determination to halt Iran’s nuclear program, even through launching a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Unlike Israel, Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has declared that its nuclear program aims at no military ends.

Furthermore, since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has never invaded another country, while Israel has initiated wars on numerous occasions against, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon among other countries.

In its latest military assault, Tel Aviv pounded the blockaded Gaza Stip for three weeks, killing over 1,300 Palestinians, among them many civilians, and wounding thousands of others.

After boycotting a slated speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN, Israel embarks on a mission to convince other delegates to follow suit.

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday said Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu would not be present during Ahmadinejad’s speech to the United Nations’ General Assembly scheduled for Wednesday.

Branding Iran’s second most important official as “one of the most evil and horrible people of modern history,” Peres predicted that Ahmadinejad would have no future in Iran’s political landscape.

Tel Aviv’s latest attacks on Ahmadinejad came after the Iranian president repeated his Holocaust comments, calling the killing of European Jews during World War II “a myth”.

“If the Holocaust, as you claim, is true, why don’t you allow a probe into the issue?,” he said.

Angered by the comments, Tel Aviv is trying to convince delegates to the UN General Assembly to stay away from the chamber when Ahmadinejad addresses the gathering.

“The simple fact of leaving the room during his speech, or not to be present during it, is a symbolic act,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said on Tuesday.

Shalev told the army radio that the countries that Israel is “talking” to are simply reminded of the dangers associated with “this person and the country that he leads”.

The Israeli official’s comments indicted that the Americans have been convinced to stay away from the speech.

“We know that the Americans are aware of the dangers. They will be represented by low-level officials and their ambassador and her deputy will be absent,” Shalev said.

Israel — the sole possessor of a nuclear warhead in the Middle East — accuses Iran of conducting efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, maintaining that a “nuclear Iran” is the prime existential threat to its security.

Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.

Many believe that Tel Aviv’s enmity is rooted in a military doctrine that says Israel must maintain absolute military superiority in the region.

“The maintenance of Israel’s “qualitative military edge” over any combination of its potential adversaries has been a cornerstone of US Middle East policy for more than a decade,” Shawn L. Twing, editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs says.

Journalist Adriel Hampton believes Israel’s military advantage is “a cost-effective way of serving America’s national-security interests in this critically important region.”