Israel Matzav

AP's Matt Lee hits Jen Psaki on Kerry's apartheid comments

At Monday's State Department press briefing, the AP's Matt Lee hit State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Secretary of State Kerry's apartheid comments. Psaki owned them and warned that 'many' have used similar terms to describe Israel's future.

Let's go to the videotape.



Someone needs to get Matt Lee the figures on the true population of Israel (Jews v. Arabs) and how there really is no demographic threat to the future of Israeli democracy.

In the meantime, the rest of the Obama administration has gone silent on Kerry's comments.

Speaking with The Jerusalem Post, multiple officials in the Obama administration declined to either defend or condemn the most recent remark. Members of his team believe that kernels of truth exist in his controversial statements— that, should a two-state solution fail to come to pass, efforts to undermine Israel's legitimacy may be emboldened, and Israel's Jewish population might come to rule a majority of Arabs and Palestinians in its borders.

His communications staff has made a concerted effort to discipline the secretary's message: the State Department maintains that, without peace, Israel will struggle to remain both Jewish and democratic.

But Kerry has, on several occasions, diverged from that message, to the frustration of his aides.

And American Jewish groups have condemned Kerry's statement across the board. 

All major American Jewish or pro-Israel organizations weighed in on the reported comments, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, with a rare statement released on Monday.

"Any suggestion that Israel is, or is at risk of becoming, an apartheid state is offensive and inappropriate," the AIPAC statement read. "Israel is the lone stable democracy in the Middle East, and protects the rights of minorities regardless of ethnicity of religion."

Israel Radio had an interview this evening with a government official who said that Kerry isn't anti-Israel but has gone overboard with love for Israel. Kerry wants his Nobel peace prize and he wants an 'achievement' as Secretary of State.  The Obama administration believes that Israel is low-hanging fruit - we're the only foreign country who pays attention to them and who cares at all about what they have to say. But they hate us and treat us with contempt. This administration cannot come to an end soon enough.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Israeli apartheid, Jen Psaki, John Kerry, Matt Lee, Middle East peace process, Nobel Peace Prize

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:09 AM