John Kerry arrives in Jerusalem, resume talks with Netanyahu

It was the latest in a spate of violence that has sunk the chances of a renewed peace push during the Obama administration’s final year.

Danon spoke on the UN’s so-called global Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which was marked by 20 anti-Israel motions that included condemnations of the Jewish state’s settlement policy and responsibility for the violence in the conflict with the Palestinians.

“Clearly, no people anywhere should live with daily violence, with attacks in the streets, with knives, with scissors, cars”, he said.

Following his meeting with Netanyahu, which lasted more than an hour and a half, Kerry met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in West Jerusalem.

With U.S.-backed talks on a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory frozen since early 2014, Netanyahu said there could be no peace while an “onslaught of terror” continued.

The violence erupted in mid-September over tensions surrounding a sensitive Jerusalem holy site and quickly spread across Israel and into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Advocates of the bill say it will only allow for the imprisonment of children charged with violent crimes of a “nationalistic” nature, such as stabbings targeting Israeli settlers.

Figures released Sunday by Israel’s first aid agency, Magen David Adom, show that since the beginning of October, 22 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians. Of them, 57 are said by Israel to be attackers and the rest were killed in clashes with security forces.

Last week, an American from Kerry’s home state of MA was among those killed. The secretary of state mentioned Schwartz twice by name.

The leader of the Islamic bloc called on the worldwide community to intervene urgently, saying finding a solution depends on “applying pressure on Israel to cease its continuing aggression against the Palestinian people”. The visit includes no such ambitious agenda, the chief USA diplomat conceded, and is primarily focused on ending the terror.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and US Secretary of State John Kerry shake hands before their meeting in Jerusalem, on November 24, 2015.

Mr Kerry will meet Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials before travelling to the West Bank for discussions with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

The three remaining files, according to Erekat, are related to settlement activities, Israeli “incitement” against Palestinians, and recent security measures taken by the IDF in the West Bank, in general, and Hebron, in particular.

Following the meeting in Ramallah, Kerry said he had a long and very constructive and serious conversation with Abbas.

There is also little optimism he will be able to convince the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to resume peace talks, which broke down more than 18 months ago.

America’s broader concerns are the same and Kerry nearly surely pressed both sides in private to avoid provocative actions. For the Israelis, that means holding off on the construction of new settlements in lands the Palestinians seek for their future state.

This week, a Palestinian radio station playing music that glorified violence was forcibly closed. You destroyed the two-state solution. But the rising death toll seems, for now, to have created an environment that makes a similar commitment by President Barack Obama unlikely.

“Kerry did not carry any new ideas to solve the current crisis”, one PA official said.

At the same time, he acknowledged the security problems Israel faces, but reminded the Israeli authorities that using excessive forces feeds anger and frustration and urged the security services of the country to exercise maximum restraint, particularly, for the use of lethal force.

Abbas, who believes a deal with Netanyahu is impossible, has provided no indication that he wants to restart direct peace talks anytime soon.