VP Biden to address pro-Israel lobby

(AP) WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden will speak next week to a major pro-Israel lobbying group’s annual conference.

Biden’s speech Monday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee comes amid new diplomatic talks between world powers and Iran over the Tehran’s nuclear program.

Israel sees Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat that must be stopped by all means, including a military strike. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that the world has until this summer _ at the latest _ to keep Iran from building a bomb.

The Obama administration prefers a diplomatic solution, but hasn’t ruled out military intervention.

The White House says President Barack Obama, who addressed group last year, won’t speak this year. But Obama travels to Israel later this month in his first visit as president.