In Israel, US state secretary decries Palestinian 'terror'

JERUSALEM

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday, during his first visit to Ramallah and Tel Aviv since Israel’s devastating onslaught on the Gaza Strip last year, condemned what he called Palestinian "terrorism" against Israelis.

At a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kerry expressed his full support for Israel against what he described as the ongoing wave of Palestinian "terrorist" attacks on Israeli civilians.

"No one in the world should live with attacks in the streets with knives, with scissors, cars," Kerry asserted.

According to Israeli Radio, Netanyahu told Kerry during their meeting that Israel had not -- and would not -- halt construction of Jewish-only settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israeli daily Haaretz, meanwhile, reported that the U.S. administration had demanded a series of measures from Israel aimed at improving the moribund Palestinian economy.

"In return, the Israeli prime minister wants the U.S. to recognize the [Jewish-only] settlement blocs and Israel’s right to build them," the newspaper quoted a well-informed Israeli source as saying.

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

During this meeting, too, Kerry voiced his condemnation of what he described as Palestinian "terrorism".

"It is a difficult time when citizens can be murdered, like Ezra Schwartz -- an American citizen killed in a Palestinian attack -- and a challenge to all civilized people to make it clear that there are no excuses or justifications for the killing of innocent people," Kerry asserted.

He refrained, however, from condemning the death of the 97 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces since Oct. 1.

He went on to say that Israel not only had the right to defend itself from Palestinian attacks, but had an obligation to do so.

Kerry’s visit to Ramallah was greeted by demonstrations by Palestinians who accused the U.S. secretary of state of blatant bias in Israel’s favor.

Palestinian MP Mustafa Barghouthi, for his part, told Anadolu Agency that Kerry’s visit would not improve the situation on the ground.

He, too, accused Kerry of siding with Israel and decried the U.S. state secretary’s description of "lone-wolf" attacks by desperate Palestinians as acts of "terrorism".

"Kerry’s remarks regarding Israel’s right to defend itself while depriving Palestinians of the same right confirms his partiality to Israel," Barghouthi asserted.