Secretary of State John Kerry is apparently blaming Israel for the recent collapse of peace talks between the Jewish State and the Palestinian Authority, warning that the Jewish State may become “an apartheid state” if a two-state solution isn’t reached.
US Secretary of State John Kerry made frequent trips to the Middle East to bring about an agreement between Israel and the PA. (Photo: Matty Stern/Flash90)
As first reported by the Daily Beast, Kerry told a room of world leaders Friday during a meeting of the Trilateral Commission, a nongovernmental organization committed to fostering closer ties between Europe, North America, and Japan: “A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative.”
The Secretary of State added that a “unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens — or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state. Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to.”
John Kerry’s Statements Indicate Change in US Policy Towards Israel
Most Israelis and their supporters bristle at the use of the word ‘apartheid’ to describe Israeli policies and actions. Furthermore, Kerry’s statements represent a significant break in traditional US policy regarding Israel. Senior American officials have never publicly used the term ‘apartheid’ in reference to Israel, and President Obama has previously rejected the idea that the word should apply to the Jewish state.
This would not be the first time that Kerry has expressed statements that have outraged large swaths of the Israeli public. In fact, the Secretary of State’s musings on the Jewish state’s dire future have become a regular feature of his public remarks. His latest prediction follows other statements in recent months that have in effect threatened Israel, and never the Palestinians, with a list of disasters should his diplomatic efforts fail.
In February, Kerry said that if the current framework peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority collapse, Israel would inevitably face violence, boycotts, delegitimization and isolation.
Last November, Israeli officials reacted angrily after Kerry referred to the dangers of a third Palestinian Intifada in the absence of a peace agreement.
PA President, Mahmoud Abbas at reception honoring released terrorists in 2013. (Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash90)
And while the Secretary of State has asserted that both Israelis and the Palestinian Authority were responsible for the current crisis in peace talks, he has appeared to assign much of the blame to the government in Jerusalem.
Kerry’s most recent remarks come on the heels of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to suspended negotiations with the Palestinian Authority in response to the reconciliation agreement that was announced last week between Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, and the Islamist Hamas terrorist organization.
Written by: Gidon Ben-Zvi
Staff Writer, United with Israel