Kerry warns Israel about collapse of Palestinian Authority

“If there is a risk the Palestinian Authority might collapse and Israel wants it to survive, shouldn’t Israel do more to help sustain it?”

Kerry urged both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to recommit to the concept of a negotiated two-state solution in order to give both peoples, but particularly the Palestinians, hope that a resolution to the long-running conflict is at least possible.

A wave of violence that erupted on October 1 has so far claimed the lives of more than 120 people, including 109 Palestinians and 17 Israelis.

Palestinians are frustrated by the failure of decades of peace talks and the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, with many also losing faith in the leadership of president Mahmud Abbas.

If that happens, Kerry says Israel would be forced to assume all governance in the West Bank and potentially accept a one-state solution that would compromise Israel’s future as a democratic Jewish state.

The Saban Forum, an annual conference held by the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute, this year includes addresses from Kerry, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Kerry said Israel’s continued construction of settlements in disputed areas, and the lack of building permits granted to Palestinians, raise concerns among them about Israel’s long-term plans.

Four Palestinians were injured with sponge-tipped bullets during a weekly protest rally in the central West Bank village of Bil’in, located 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) west of al-Quds.

Kerry described a situation teetering on the brink of disaster.

He added that the level of distrust between the two sides “has never been more profound”, calling for an end to the violence before it worsens yet again.

The fatal shooting of four Palestinians by Israeli forces in Ramallah and Hebron districts hit the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies.

A police announcement on Thursday that several “youths belonging to a Jewish terror group” were in custody stirred speculation of a breakthrough in the killing of three members of the Dawabsheh family, which raised Israeli-Palestinian tensions. We can’t come to a forum like this, we can’t have meetings under the norms of diplomacy and pretend.

Kerry asked if Palestinians “would be relegated to a permanent underclass” and if there would be “segregated roads” for the mixed population to travel on. “Would anybody really believe that they were being treated equally?”

“The one-state solution is no solution at all”, Kerry said, according to the Brookings Institution, which hosted the event.