Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, looks on as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office, in Jerusalem
Source: MSN.com
By John Perry and Joseph Federman for Associated Press
JERUSALEM — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry set off an uproar in Israel on Sunday after warning that the country, through its continued West Bank occupation, will become a “binational state.”
Kerry’s words describe a scenario that would mark a failure of U.S. policy and end to Israel’s existence as a country that is both Jewish and democratic. The U.S., the international community and many Israelis have endorsed the “two-state solution” — establishing a Palestinian state and ending Israel’s control over millions of Palestinians in territories occupied in the 1967 war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Sunday that “Israel will not be a binational state” and blamed the Palestinians for the failure of peace efforts. But despite Netanyahu’s pledges, Jewish settlement of the West Bank continues apace, while confusion over his true intentions grows by the day.
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.
Dome of the Rock with the rest of Jerusalem in background
Categories: Asia, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, The Muslim Times, USA