Kerry accuses Israeli right of sabotaging peace process
Kerry accuses Israeli right of sabotaging peace process
Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday accused right-wing Israelis of deliberately thwarting efforts to broker a peace deal with the Palestinians.
In unusually stark terms, Washington's top diplomat warned that Israeli settlement building was undermining any hope of an agreement to allow two states to live side-by-side.
At the Saban Forum, an annual gathering of senior Israeli and US policymakers, Kerry said some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government had made "profoundly disturbing" statements.
"And more than 50 percent of the ministers in the current government have publicly stated they are opposed to a Palestinian state and that there will be no Palestinian state," he said.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu had addressed the forum via video link, arguing that Israeli settlement building was not an obstacle to peace.
Israel was ready for talks with no preconditions, he said, urging Arab governments to recognize the state of Israel.
However, Kerry dismissed the idea that more Arab states would strike peace deals with Israel without any moves towards an agreement with the Palestinians.
"There will be no advance and separate peace with the Arab world without the Palestinian process and Palestinian peace," he said. "Everybody needs to understand that. That is a hard reality."
In the US government's view, Israel's accelerated building on Palestinian-owned land is not only an obstacle to peace but deliberately so, Kerry added.
"I'm not here to tell you that the settlements are the reason for the conflict, no, they're not," Kerry said.
"But I also can not accept the notion that they don't affect the peace process, that they aren't a barrier to the capacity to have peace," he argued.
"And I'll tell you why I know that: because the left in Israel is telling everybody they are a barrier to peace and the right that supports it openly supports it because they don't want peace."
US President Barack Obama's administration, which comes to an end next month with no prospect of a revived peace process, has been frustrated by the attitude of Netanyahu's government.
Still, Kerry insisted Israel has no greater friend than Washington.
Since he arrived at the State Department in February 2013, he has spoken to Netanyahu on 375 formally recorded occasions for more than 130 hours of discussions, he said.
Washington has opposed all attempts to pressure Israel through votes on United Nations bodies, he added, and has just signed a 10-year $38 billion military support deal, the biggest in US history.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/kerry-accuses-israeli-sabotaging-peace-process-000046861.html
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I didn't speak with one Israeli during my trip that thought Netanyahu was a good leader. Glad to learn that not every Jew is blind and deaf to reality. Would really like it if my money wasn't going to Israel during this asshats leadership. Looks like there are deplorables everywhere.
And the band plays on, continuing to be tone deaf at all costs-do you not understand why you lost the election here? Obviously someone thinks he is a decent leader or someone else would be the leader, no? This article was one sided. What does the other side say? How many years ago did the Israelis offer up a two state solution, only to have Arafat shoot it down? It's not about one side compromising-compromise takes 2 sides at a minimum.
When Ehud Olmert was Prime Minister Israel offered the Palestinians 97% of what they wanted, and Abbas walked away from it. Of course he knew that accepting ANYTHING from Israel would lead to his assassination. How do you negotiate with someone who demands concessions but gives none - Israel has released thousands of prisoners who had blood on their hands, Israel gave up Gaza, forcing the Israelis living there to vacate. The Palestinians will not negotiate in good faith, but they sure as hell keep up their attacks on innocent civilian Israelis.
Having read Pj's comment, where can I get one of these hats?
In the US government's view, Israel's accelerated building on Palestinian-owned land is not only an obstacle to peace but deliberately so, Kerry added.
"I'm not here to tell you that the settlements are the reason for the conflict, no, they're not," Kerry said.
"But I also can not accept the notion that they don't affect the peace process, that they aren't a barrier to the capacity to have peace," he argued.
"And I'll tell you why I know that: because the left in Israel is telling everybody they are a barrier to peace and the right that supports it openly supports it because they don't want peace."
The U.S. government has never supported the building of additional settlements, has it? Maybe Trump will break that trend and make the Netanyahu brigade at Newstalkers happy.
I'm not surprised that some just read the headline and not the content and automatically assumed it was one sided. The headline I agree is very slanted but Kerry says there are conflicting positions within Israel itself. Sorry the Netanyahu Newstalkers Brigade would rather just see this Administration as the enemy rather than seeing the reality of the situation. And that reality is that this is a complex issue.
There's a great deal of confusion as to what constitutes a "settlement". Most of the construction is taking place in areas that both parties have already stipulated would be part of Israel under a two-state solution. Some is most certainly not. I would like to point out that Israel had a significant number of residents in Gaza, and they were forcibly removed from territory that was ultimately ceded to the Palestinians. If Israel is building on Palestinian land, there is precedent for Israelis being removed from said land.
Israel has, in the past, refrained from building in order to encourage the Palestinians to negotiate. This has never worked. If "not building" did not compel them to come to the table, then perhaps "building" will create the desired level of urgency.
Finally, if the Palestinians are to have their state, it will not occur through channels, or indirect declarations at world bodies, or at the behest of a lame-duck Secretary of State's public lamentations. It is only direct negotiations with Israel that will get the deal done. Israel has been left at the table countless times, while the global media would like you to believe that there are somehow other obstacles; obstacles that they imagine Israel has created. This has been proven to be false over and over.
The obstacle to a Palestinian state is the Palestinians' lack of understanding that they are dealing from weakness, while the world tells them that they are dealing from strength.
"When Ehud Olmert was Prime Minister Israel offered the Palestinians 97% of what they wanted, and Abbas walked away from it. Of course he knew that accepting ANYTHING from Israel would lead to his assassination. How do you negotiate with someone who demands concessions but gives none - Israel has released thousands of prisoners who had blood on their hands, Israel gave up Gaza, forcing the Israelis living there to vacate. The Palestinians will not negotiate in good faith, but they sure as hell keep up their attacks on innocent civilian Israelis."
Well said, Buzz. Regardless of your insulting and judgmental posts, PJ, the situation is one of the Palestinians making and Kerry's comments just go to show how far out of touch he is with the reality on the ground, but he does his boss' bidding.
Gary - I'm hurt. :0(