U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has set off a furor in Israel by suggesting that Israel was destroying itself as a Jewish state.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Saturday that the Palestinian Authority is at risk of dissolving if the status quo continues with Israel.
“The one-state solution is no solution at all for a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel living in peace, it is simply not a viable option”, Kerry said.
He called on Mr Netanyahu to stick to his commitment to a two-state solution – which, in fact, he disavowed during Israel’s general election – and to engage in dialogue with the Palestinians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted angrily on Sunday, telling his Cabinet that “Israel will not be a binational state” and blaming the Palestinians for the failure of peace efforts.
He told a conference at the Brookings Institution in Washington that if that were to happen, Israel would have to assume full governance of the West Bank, potentially leading to a one-state solution that would endanger Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state. A soldier who saw the incident as he stepped off a bus ran toward the attacker, opened fire and killed him, police said.
Since October 1, nearly daily assaults and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and violence between Palestinians and Israeli settlers have killed 109 Palestinians, including an Israeli Arab, 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count.
The recent spate of violence was triggered by increasing visits of far-right Israelis to the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a site in East Jerusalem holy to both Muslims and Jews.
More than two months of Palestinian knifings, car-rammings and occasionally shootings have killed 19 Israelis and a USA citizen. “The foreign minister of Sweden is proposing that Israeli citizens present their necks to the very murderers who want to stick their knives in” and added that the citizens and security forces of Israel have the right to defend themselves against those that attempt to murder them and that Israel’s legal system guarantees due process for everyone.
Israel says the latest unrest stems from incitement by Palestinian leaders.
Relations between the two countries have nose-dived since Sweden’s Social Democrat-led government recognised a Palestinian state previous year.
He said a two-state solution is possible only if both sides want peace.
Without the West Bank, Israel would be about 10 miles wide at its narrowest point, with the West Bank looming over population centers and surrounding Jerusalem on three sides. Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, only to have Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and other terror groups launch thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians.
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Netanyahu denied that Israel was headed toward incorporating the West Bank Palestinian population.
