KERRY: ISRAEL WOULD BECOME ‘APARTHEID’

Washington, 28 Jumadil Akhir 1435/28 April 2014 (MINA) – The United States (US) Secretary of State John Kerry has said that Israel could become “an apartheid state” if the so-called peace talks with the Palestinian Authority fail.

In an exclusive report published on Sunday, The Daily Beast said it obtained a recording of remarks made by Kerry during a closed-door Friday meeting in which he lashed out against Israel’s illegal settlement-building activities and failure to achieve a peace deal with the PA.

“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,” Kerry told a room of influential world leaders including senior officials and experts from the US, Western Europe, Russia, and Japan.

Kerry has been leading Washington’s efforts to resume the stalled negotiations between Israel and the PA, with the final aim of brokering a deal. Press Tv report quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

However, the talks have remained deadlocked since they were resumed last summer under the intense US pressure.

Earlier this year, remarks made by Kerry at the Munich Security Conference also angered Israeli officials when the top US diplomat said failure to reach a deal with the Palestinians could lead to more boycotts, referring to a growing international boycott campaign against Israel.

Some Israeli officials even went as far as accusing Kerry of endorsing and “amplifying” what they called “anti-Semitic” efforts to impose sanctions on Israel by issuing the warning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back hard at Kerry, saying calls for boycotts of Israel to pressure it to abandon settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories were “immoral and unjustified.”

The US Department of State quickly responded to the criticism, saying Kerry had been referring to the actions of others and opposed boycotts.

“Secretary Kerry has a proud record of over three decades of steadfast support for Israel’s security and well-being, including staunch opposition to boycotts,” said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. (T/P012/P04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)