JERUSALEM (EJP)—After he was quoted in the Israeli media as launching a verbal attack on John Kerry, Israel’s Defense Minister issued an apology and praise for the US Secretary of State.
Yaalon was quoted by daily Yediot Aharonot as saying that the current US-sponsored plan for security arrangements in the peace talks with the Palestinians, “isn’t worth the paper it was written on. ” ‘’It contains neither security nor peace. Only our continued presence in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan River will guarantee that Ben Gurion Airport and (the northern city of) Netanya do not become targets for missiles from every direction,’’ he added.
He said, according to the paper:”Secretary of State John Kerry – who arrived here determined, and who operates from an incomprehensible obsession and a sense of messianism – can’t teach me anything about the conflict with the Palestinians.”
“The only thing that might save us is if John Kerry wins the Nobel Prize and leaves us be.”
The US insisted on the need for an apology with President Barack Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney saying that Yaalon’s remarks “if accurate, are offensive and inappropriate, especially in the light of everything Secretary Kerry is doing to support Israel’s security needs.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized his minister’s tone in the Knesset, saying that even when Israel and the US disagreed, there was no need for personal insults.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon issued two statements, both in Hebrew and English, saying the two countries “share a common goal to advance peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.”
“The Defense Minister had no intention to cause any offence to the secretary, and he apologizes if the secretary was offended by the remarks attributed to the minister,” the ministry later said. ‘’Relations between the US and Israel are “intimate and of great significance for us,” the statement read. “The US is our greatest friend and most important ally, and when there are divisions, we work them out behind closed doors, including with Secretary of State Kerry, with whom I hold many talks about the future of Israel.”
President Shimon Peres, also in an obvious effort to control the fallout from the incident, thanked US President Barack Obama in the Knesset “for his full responsiveness to our security and intelligence needs,” and Kerry for his “determined efforts to make peace.”
“There is no doubt [Obama] wants to see a peaceful Middle East,” Peres said. “Our deep friendship with the US is a central component of Israel’s security and an impetus for peace in the Middle East.”
Even Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, known in the past for making undiplomatic comments, chided Ya’alon. In a statement from Geneva, where Liberman is holding talks, he said Israel and the US had a “special connection.” He added that the US was Israel’s strongest ally – something it had proven innumerable times over the years.
Therefore, he said, “it is not right and does not contribute anything to either side to conduct a vocal and public debate, and there is no place for personal recriminations, even if there are sometimes disagreements.”
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who leads the country’s team negotiating with the PLO, wrote on Facebook: “You can oppose negotiations professionally and responsibly without tongue-lashing and destroying relations with Israel’s top ally.”
Since Israeli-Palestinian talks restarted in July, Kerry has made 10 visits to the region, one of them this month, pushing for a deal in talks that are scheduled to end in April with a “framework” for a two-state solution.