Mr Kerry had cautioned against calls from some Israeli politicians to let the Palestinian Authority wither, calling them counterproductive and self-defeating for Israel.
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Mr Netanyahu warned Sweden that there would be a sharp diplomatic response after the country’s foreign minister suggested Israel had unlawfully killed Palestinians involved in a recent surge of street violence.
Speaking before his weekly cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu slammed the remarks, labelling them “scandalous” and saying that Israel would continue to protect the lives of its citizens.
Meanwhile, Israel seems unable to stem a wave of stabbings and other attacks by Palestinian individuals, now in its third month, that has killed 19 Israelis and left over 100 Palestinians, most said by Israel to be attackers, dead.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement over the weekend warning Israel it may become a “binational” state if it fails to reach an agreement with the Palestinian Authority. He told a conference in Washington that if that were to happen, Israel would have to assume full governance of the West Bank, which could lead to a one-state solution that endangered Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state.
In the latest violence in Jerusalem, on Sunday, a Palestinian rammed his auto into a passer-by in a Jewish neighbourhood, slightly injuring him, and then got out of the vehicle and stabbed another man, who suffered superficial wounds.
Since October 1, nearly daily confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and violence between Palestinians and Israeli settlers have killed 109 Palestinians, including an Arab Israeli, 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count. “The one-state solution is not a solution at all for a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel living in peace”.
Tensions between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip continue nonstop.
And another 72 Palestinians, said by Israel to have been attackers, have been killed.
Israel says the current spate of violence is due to incitement by Palestinian leaders over the Jerusalem holy site as well as videos encouraging violence spread on social media. Palestinians say it is rooted in frustrations over Israel’s almost 50-year occupation of the West Bank.
Kerry urged both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to recommit to the concept of a negotiated two-state solution in order to give both peoples, but particularly the Palestinians, hope that a resolution to the long-running conflict is at least possible.
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Hotovely hinted at a possible exclusion of the Swedish government from Israeli efforts to revive peacemaking efforts with the Palestinians that have been stalled since early 2014.
