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Joe Biden's trek to Israel should never have turned into a worldwide anxiety attack.

Since when was Jerusalem so critical to the peace process? Why should the United States feel so passionate about Jerusalem? At least the vice president's visit helped divulge Arab attitudes that can only demolish the peace process.

Though some of their views have been obvious, Arabs in Israel's territories feel a sense of entitlement about acquiring Jerusalem; expect America to force its will on Israel; riot over religious sites; are abandoned by their own people; and celebrate the exploits of a murderer.

It is clear that after a year, Arabs in Israel's territories could not grasp why the majority of Israeli voters supported center-right parties that elected Binyamin Netanyahu as prime minister. After a decade of Arab aggression despite conspicuous Israeli peace initiatives, reasonable people were hardly puzzled.

Whether Netanyahu's crowd is right or wrong, the Arabs must resign themselves to living with an administration that appears to have contempt for them. If Arab leaders demonstrate that they are understanding of Israeli concerns, maybe the Likud-run government will be replaced by a more palatable bunch in a few years.

So on Tuesday, March 9, after reaffirming America's solidarity with Israel's quest for security, Biden learned that Interior Secretary Eli Yishai announced the construction of 1,600 housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem. The vice president twice condemned this move and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spent 43 minutes on a phone call browbeating Netanyahu over how the timing of the announcement humiliated Biden.

These housing units will not be built in the West Bank, which would be an understandable concern. But Jerusalem? Arab leaders have progressively clamored for locating the capital of a Palestinian state in eastern Jerusalem.

They have yet to explain why Jerusalem must be their capital. What is wrong with Nablus or Ramallah? Israel annexed eastern Jerusalem and some surrounding West Bank communities in 1967. Jerusalem is a fundamental part of Jewish history.

True, the international community does not recognize the eastern part of Jerusalem as part of Israel, but they never formally challenged it. Another argument has been that eastern Jerusalem would be part of a land swap with existing Jewish communities on the West Bank. Not a bad argument before Yasser Arafat refused that very same deal a decade ago and facilitated a war against Israel. Perhaps the question of Jerusalem can be reviewed in future negotiations, but the Arabs must justify their need for it. Netanyahu has said he will keep Jerusalem united, but now agrees to discuss the issue.

Another offensive Arab attitude was expressed by Nabil Abu Rudeineh of the Palestinian government, who told the New York Times: "The American administration must respond to this provocation with actual measures, as it is no longer possible to just turn the other cheek and massive American pressure is required in order to compel Israel to abandon its peace-destroying behavior."

Peace-destroying? Israel offered them an independent state with eastern Jerusalem 10 years ago and pulled out of Gaza five years later. Massive American pressure? It does not work that way. There is a limit to American influence on Israel, not to mention the prospect of influencing people like Abu Rudeineh.

Then there is the Arab reaction to the prime minister's announcement last month to include two West Bank religious shrines among Zionist heritage sites. The Arabs automatically condemned the move as a move to "consolidate the occupation" and at one point 100 demonstrators threw stones and burned tires in Hebron, CNN reported.

The Times on Sunday ran an interesting story relating how Jordan has revoked the citizenship of some who moved from Jerusalem and the West Bank to Jordan. There is speculation that the government fears that Palestinian Arabs -- who share the same religion and culture -- might eventually dominate Jordan.

On Biden's last day in Israel, the youth division of Fatah honored Dalal Mughrabi, the 19-year-old leader of a Palestinian squad that sailed from Lebanon in 1978 and landed south of Haifa where they killed an American photographer, seized two buses, and murdered 38 Israelis, 13 of them children, as the Times reported.

Dozens of students attended the event in al-Bireh, near Ramallah, to dedicate a public square in Mughrabi's memory; Fatah is the party led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This was a toned down affair to replace an official ceremony delayed by the authority because of Israeli protests and to avoid embarrassment during Biden's visit.

An authority security officer expressed support, but he refused to be photographed with banner-holding students. Tawfiq Tirawi, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, was not so shy, saying, "We are all Dalal Mughrabi. For us she is not a terrorist."

The newspaper also quoted Yara Daik, 22, who said, "Dalal sacrificed for her country and is a symbol for every Palestinian girl." Now why should their attitudes give Israelis and their advocates in America an attitude?

Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia freelance journalist. He can be reached at BTicker@comcast.net.