“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.
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She tells a conference at the Brookings Institution in Washington that she understands “the frustration and the disappointment”.
He said that Israel would have to shoulder some of responsibility, such as providing basic services in the West Bank, if the Palestinian Authority collapsed.
She also had harsh words for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, which she said was not only counter-productive, but linked to anti-Semitism.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the statement of Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom who had earlier claimed that Israel resorted to unlawful killings of Palestinians involved in the ongoing wave of violence. It came after a scorching speech to the forum the previous evening by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warning that Israel’s settlement policies were leading toward a one-state outcome.
19 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings and shootings.
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.
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.
“There are no easy answers, but we can’t stop trying to find solutions that move us closer to peace”.
An Israeli soldier was lightly injured in a stabbing attack in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight Thursday-Friday.
The World Court says that the settlements Israel has built there are illegal, a view that Israel has repeatedly disputed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday described recent Swedish criticisms of Israeli security measures against alleged Palestinian attackers as “scandalous remarks” following a week of diplomatic rows between the Jewish state and a handful of European countries.
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In his Sunday opinions, Netanyahu also warned U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that the deficiency of peace discussions could possibly lead to the fall of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) and a “one-state solution” to the perennial conflict.
