Kerry Draws Ire from Both Israeli Leaders and U.S. Democrats

Ahead of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech outlining the Obama administration’s vision of a Mideast peace plan to Washington diplomatic corps at the State Department on Wednesday, the chief foreign envoy of the Yesha Council, Oded Revivi described John Kerry as a man who does not speak the truth and who is disconnected from reality.

“In a meeting with Kerry a few weeks ago, I understood that this was a man who is completely disconnected and is looking to make headlines, a man that takes a side in the conflict and confuses facts with dreams,” said Revivi, the mayor of Efrat, who met with Kerry in Washington.

“During his tenure as secretary of state, Kerry has seen time and time again Israel’s willingness to compromise on this conflict and the stubbornness of the Palestinian Authority, which has missed many opportunities to sit at the negotiating table in order to reach a lasting peace,” said Revivi.

“John Kerry is a stain on American foreign policy that is ignorant of the issues. He has chosen to eternalize his legacy as the worst secretary of state in history that chose to stab his closest ally in the back while rivers of blood flowed like water across the Middle-East,” commented Revivi.

Revivi said that he could personally attest to the fact that Kerry knows very little about the realities in Judea and Samaria and instead chooses to defame the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria from afar by repeating fictitious mantras.

Revivi also pointed out that the building policy in Jerusalem is shaped by the democratically elected Israeli government. “It is the Israeli government that was elected by an overwhelming majority of the Israeli people that supports building in our ancestral homeland. Our rights to this land are fully legal and cannot be refuted; this is the reason that proclamations are being made instead providing solid legal arguments against us.”

“Nearly half a million Israelis currently reside on the strategic highlands of Judea and Samaria overlooking seventy percent of Israel’s population and industrial base, no amount of speeches or resolutions can reverse this reality.”

Meanwhile in Washington, House Democratic Whip, Steny H. Hoyer (Maryland) released a statement yesterday stating that Secretary Kerry’s peace formula would hurt Israel in the future.

“I urge Secretary Kerry and the Administration not to set forth a formula, which will inevitably disadvantage Israel in any negotiation. The United States must now take steps to signal unequivocally to the entire world that we will continue to stand by our ally Israel as it seeks to build a future of peace and safety as a Jewish state and an equal member of the family of nations,” said the House Democratic Whip.

Hoyer also said that it was his understanding that in the last few days of the Obama Administration, Kerry intends to outline the parameters of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, whose principles are expected to be discussed at a Paris summit on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on January 15. “This flies in the face of the United States’s longstanding position that such a formulation should be reached only through negotiations by the parties and not by the United States, the United Nations, or any other third party,” said Hoyer.

In response to the U.N. Security Council resolution regarding Israel and the settlements, Hoyer said that he urged the Administration to veto the recently passed U.N. resolution. “Unfortunately, they failed to do so, and Israel’s enemies were strengthened,” said Hoyer.”