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John Kerry delivered a marathon speech Wednesday excoriating Israel for its settlements policy, and we hear Israeli TV stations dropped the live broadcast after the first half-hour. Who can blame them? If Israelis don’t feel the need to sit through another verbal assault from the soon to be former Secretary of State, it’s because they live in a reality he shows no evidence of comprehending.
Mr. Kerry has made the pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian peace a major goal of his tenure, conducting intensive negotiations for nearly a year until they collapsed in spring 2014. That collapse came after the Palestinian Authority announced the creation of a unity government with Hamas, the terrorist group sworn to Israel’s destruction. Shortly thereafter, Hamas started a war with Israel from its Gaza stronghold, the third such war since Israel vacated Gaza of all settlements in 2005.
In his speech, Mr. Kerry went out of his way to personalize his differences with current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming he leads the “most right-wing” coalition in Israeli history. But Israelis also remember that Mr. Netanyahu ordered a settlement freeze, and that also brought peace no closer.
The lesson is that Jewish settlements are not the main obstacle to peace. If they were, Gaza would be on its way to becoming the Costa Rica of the Mediterranean. The obstacle is Palestinian rejection of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state in any borders. A Secretary of State who wishes to resolve the conflict could have started from that premise, while admonishing the Palestinians that they will never get a state so long as its primary purpose is the destruction of its neighbor.
Kerry’s Rage Against Israel
Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Wednesday harshly criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying their growth threatens to destroy the viability of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that the United States was obliged to allow passage of a U.N. resolution condemning the activity in order to preserve the possibility of peace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the speech “a big disappointment.”
“He deals obsessively with the settlements, he fails to deal with the Palestinian failure to recognize a Jewish state,” Netanyahu said, adding, “If he put the same emphasis on Palestinian incitement and terror that he did on settlements then maybe we will be on the way to peace.”
About two hours before Kerry started speaking, Trump tweeted his criticism of the Obama administration:
“We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but . . . not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!”
Netanyahu, in turn, promptly tweeted his gratitude: “President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel!”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Kerry’s speech “at best a pointless tirade in the waning days of an outgoing administration.”
The U.S. abstention has been condemned by several Democrats as well, including
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), who is the party’s incoming leader.
Kerry harshly condemns Israeli settler activity as an obstacle to peace
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev on Tuesday launched a double-barreled attack on US President Barack Obama, first calling on him to take note of Jerusalem’s ancient Jewish history and then dismissing him as being no longer relevant due to the upcoming end to his term in office.
“Who is Obama?” Regev asked rhetorically. “Obama is history. We have Trump.”
“Fifty years ago, we turned hope into reality: Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, was once again united, and we will never agree to its being divided a second time,” Regev declared.
“Several weeks ago UNESCO declared that there is no such link,” Regev said. “The ridiculous vote in Paris cannot cancel thousands of years of history. Today we respond to this distortion of history and say in a loud and clear voice: Jews lived in Jerusalem and will continue to live in Jerusalem. Jews built Jerusalem and will continue to build Jerusalem. Thus it was 2,000 years ago, thus it is today and thus it will remain forever.”
Defiant Israeli culture minister: ‘Obama is history, we have Trump’
Mr. Kerry has made the pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian peace a major goal of his tenure, conducting intensive negotiations for nearly a year until they collapsed in spring 2014. That collapse came after the Palestinian Authority announced the creation of a unity government with Hamas, the terrorist group sworn to Israel’s destruction. Shortly thereafter, Hamas started a war with Israel from its Gaza stronghold, the third such war since Israel vacated Gaza of all settlements in 2005.
In his speech, Mr. Kerry went out of his way to personalize his differences with current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming he leads the “most right-wing” coalition in Israeli history. But Israelis also remember that Mr. Netanyahu ordered a settlement freeze, and that also brought peace no closer.
The lesson is that Jewish settlements are not the main obstacle to peace. If they were, Gaza would be on its way to becoming the Costa Rica of the Mediterranean. The obstacle is Palestinian rejection of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state in any borders. A Secretary of State who wishes to resolve the conflict could have started from that premise, while admonishing the Palestinians that they will never get a state so long as its primary purpose is the destruction of its neighbor.
Kerry’s Rage Against Israel
Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Wednesday harshly criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying their growth threatens to destroy the viability of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that the United States was obliged to allow passage of a U.N. resolution condemning the activity in order to preserve the possibility of peace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the speech “a big disappointment.”
“He deals obsessively with the settlements, he fails to deal with the Palestinian failure to recognize a Jewish state,” Netanyahu said, adding, “If he put the same emphasis on Palestinian incitement and terror that he did on settlements then maybe we will be on the way to peace.”
About two hours before Kerry started speaking, Trump tweeted his criticism of the Obama administration:
“We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but . . . not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!”
Netanyahu, in turn, promptly tweeted his gratitude: “President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel!”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Kerry’s speech “at best a pointless tirade in the waning days of an outgoing administration.”
The U.S. abstention has been condemned by several Democrats as well, including
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), who is the party’s incoming leader.
Kerry harshly condemns Israeli settler activity as an obstacle to peace
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev on Tuesday launched a double-barreled attack on US President Barack Obama, first calling on him to take note of Jerusalem’s ancient Jewish history and then dismissing him as being no longer relevant due to the upcoming end to his term in office.
“Who is Obama?” Regev asked rhetorically. “Obama is history. We have Trump.”
“Fifty years ago, we turned hope into reality: Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, was once again united, and we will never agree to its being divided a second time,” Regev declared.
“Several weeks ago UNESCO declared that there is no such link,” Regev said. “The ridiculous vote in Paris cannot cancel thousands of years of history. Today we respond to this distortion of history and say in a loud and clear voice: Jews lived in Jerusalem and will continue to live in Jerusalem. Jews built Jerusalem and will continue to build Jerusalem. Thus it was 2,000 years ago, thus it is today and thus it will remain forever.”
Defiant Israeli culture minister: ‘Obama is history, we have Trump’
