“Israel will not be a binational state”, Netanyahu said emphatically at the opening of his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, according to the Times of Israel.
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Speaking earlier in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called out Abbas for denying the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state, describing his comments as emblematic of Palestinian denialism that has undermined attempts to negotiate a peace agreement.
Clinton called on Arab leaders to revive the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative to include recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, a key Israeli demand of the Palestinians.
“The status quo is simply not sustainable and the fact of the matter is that current trends, including violence, settlement activity, demolitions, are imperiling the viability of a two-state solution”, Kerry warned.
“The Palestinian Authority’s incitement continues”, he added, stating that “anyone who wants peace must condemn these actions”.
She also pledged further involvement with the Middle Eastern ally; boosting air defense systems in Northern Israel, helping to build tunnel detection technology and expanding high-level strategic consultation in enforcement of the Iranian nuclear deal.
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.
Without a two-state solution, Kerry said Israel would be forced into an unsustainable position of perpetual occupation that would be rejected not least by the Palestinians but by most, if not all, of the worldwide community.
More than two months of Palestinian knifings, car-rammings and occasionally shootings have killed 19 Israelis and a US citizen.
He also condemned the building of settlements by Israel and said that almost all of Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the West Bank, was “effectively restricted” for Palestinian development. Scores of Israeli soldiers died in the conflict, along with several civilians.
He noted that during a recent trip to Ramallah, Abbas had told him that the level of Palestinian despair about the future was unprecedented.
Relations between Sweden and Israel hit a fresh low on Sunday after Israel said Sweden’s foreign minister had accused it of unlawful killings and Stockholm responded by saying that the comments had been “blown out of reasonable proportion”.
The forces raided the town and detained the two after they stormed and searched the houses, Palestine’s (WAFA) news agency said.
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Human rights groups, meanwhile, including Amnesty International, have suggested that Israeli forces have employed a “shoot-to-kill” policy against alleged Palestinian attackers – even when the latter did not constitute an immediate threat.
