Kerry pays visits to Israel, West Bank

Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday said Israeli and Palestinian leaders have reached a pivotal point and it was now up to them to make important decisions that will lead to lasting peace. The premier also conditioned Palestinian construction in Israeli-controlled parts of the West Bank on global recognition of Israel’s right to build in settlement blocs, the official said. This would include Israeli-Palestinian anti-terror cooperation in the West Bank, with a temporary Israeli military presence along the Jordan River, to be backed by U.S. and European Union intelligence capacities and an global monitoring force. “It is very clear to us that the terrorism, these acts of terrorism which have been taking place, deserve the condemnation that they are receiving”, Kerry said.

He also met later with IsraeliPresident Reuven Rivlin later before heading to Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Two others were hurt in the afternoon attack – an Israeli woman in her 20s who was lightly injured in the stabbing, and another caught in friendly fire by Israeli security forces.

To anyone remotely knowledgeable about the recent uptick in violence, Kerry’s description of “daily violence” as attacks with knives, scissors or cars clearly references Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

The secretary of state added that he is looking at ways of working with Israel and the global community “to push back against terrorism, to push back against senseless violence, and to find a way forward to restore calm”.

Ahead of his trip, Kerry conceded he was coming without the ambitious agenda of past visits and was primarily focused on stemming the violence.

Scores of Palestinian teenagers have been killed in clashes with soldiers and police since Israel’s parliament pushed through laws authorising the security forces to respond to stone-throwing with gunfire.

An Israeli official said Netanyahu complained about alleged Palestinian incitement and said any confidence-building gestures for the Palestinians would require calm. The clip begins with a crowd pushing in around the protagonists in a crowded Ramallah street (Al-Irsal) in the West Bank.

However, Kerry’s words ignore what the discrepancy in the number of lives lost reveals: Israelis encounter violence through (the fear of) occasional, isolated attacks, while Palestinians are subject to a regime of systematic extrajudicial killings, dispossession, displacement, and political persecution.

In one of the resolutions, the United Nations condemned Israel for retaining the northern Golan Heights region, demanding that Israel hand that territory to Syria.

“The United States government has never defended or supported Israeli settlements and activity associated with them and by extension does not pursue policies that would legitimise them”, he said. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton made unsuccessful attempts at brokering two-state deals during their final months in office.

One of the settlements is Ramat Shlomo which is in land the Palestinians want as part of a future state.