John Kerry Warns Israel Will Become ‘Apartheid State’ Without Peace
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Secretary of State John Kerry warned a roomful of world leaders that Israel could become “an apartheid state” if peace talks fail, the Daily Beast reported.
Kerry reportedly made the remarks Friday during a meeting of the Trilateral Commission, which included senior officials from the United States, Europe, Russia and Japan. The Daily Beast on Sunday evening reported that it had obtained a recording of the closed-door meeting.
“A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second class citizens—or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state,” Kerry said, according to the Daily Beast.
Kerry reportedly blamed both Israeli and Palestinian leaders for the current halt of the U.S.-backed peace talks.
According to the news website, Kerry reiterated a warning that failure of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations could lead to a resumption of Palestinian violence against Israeli citizens; He said he believes a change in the leadership of either the Israelis or Palestinians could help bring about a peace deal; and he heavily criticized Israel for continued building in West Bank settlements.
“There is a fundamental confrontation and it is over settlements. Fourteen thousand new settlement units announced since we began negotiations. It’s very difficult for any leader to deal under that cloud,” Kerry said.
He told the world leaders that he is considering releasing his own peace plan and telling both sides to “take it or leave it,” according to the Daily Beast.
He said that both sides will have to make the tough decisions necessary for achieving peace.
“There’s a period here where there needs to be some regrouping. I don’t think it’s unhealthy for both of them to have to stare over the abyss and understand where the real tensions are and what the real critical decisions are that have to be made,” he said. “Neither party is quite ready to make it at this point in time. That doesn’t mean they don’t have to make these decisions.”
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