Kerry: More mistrust than ever between Israel and 'Palestinians' but there WILL be peace
Kerry told a hearing on the State Department's 2015 budget on Wednesday that there is more mistrust than ever between Israel and the 'Palestinians,' but rather than admit his obvious failure, Kerry continues to claim that there will be a 'peace agreement'... someday.
The secretary of state admitted that while there are still major issues in the progress of the negotiations, such issues are part of the bigger picture.
"You have to see those gaps in the context of the negotiations," he said. "I do believe both parties are serious and want to find a way forward."
Kerry said that despite this, neither side believes the other is serious and that the level of mistrust between the two sides is higher than ever.
On whether or not reaching an agreement was still an option, Kerry told the US lawmakers "I still believe its possible... but difficult."It's not just the 'Palestinians' whom the Israelis mistrust. A poll released earlier this week shows that two thirds of Israeli Jews don't trust Kerry either. What a surprise....
Sixty-six percent of Israeli Jews and 53% of Israeli Arabs do not trust US Secretary of State John Kerry to take the country’s security into account in the American negotiating framework agreement he intends to reveal next month.But wait for it - that's not even the most devastating item in the poll.
This according to the monthly Peace Index poll sponsored by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, which was published on Tuesday.
Sixty-one percent of Jews and 56% of Arabs believe that Kerry’s main motivation for reaching a framework agreement is a personal interest in making history as a statesman where others have failed. Only 22% of Jewis and 16% of Arabs believe he is motivated by honest concern for the future of the two parties. Eight percent of Jewish Israelis and 14% of Arab Israelis believe he is equally motivated by the chance to make history and concern for the parties.Ouch.
Labels: Israel's security, John Kerry, Middle East peace process, polls
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:34 AM
1 Comments:
I finished reading Elliot Abrams' "Tested by Zion" and I highly recommend it.
I once read a saying, "Whom the gods (pardon the expression) wish to destroy, they have them try to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." There is a lot of wisdom in that saying.
In Abrams' book, he begins with the end of the Clinton administration, after Arafat rejected the offer President Clinton tried to negotiate. Clinton warned President Bush about the difficulty of getting the Palestinians to agree to anything.
At first, the Bush administration seemed to be taking this advice. Yet, during the second term it engaged in the exact same efforts to obtain an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. Of course, the effort ended in failure. (Interestingly, Secretary of State Rice, who opposed what was being done in Bush's first term, apparently changed her tune in the second. Maybe the nature of the State Department affects any Secretary of State and the less than friendly attitude of the State Department rubs off on the Secretary...)
You would think that President Obama would know better. Of course not. He makes mistake after mistake taking the Palestinian side, and Secretary of State Kerry is probably thinking he can do what his predecessors have failed, and is taking his President's approach. They just don't get it in the Obama administration and the State Department, so they just don't learn from history.
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