US Secretary of State John Kerry extolled the possibilities for peace in the Middle East at a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem Monday, as he insisted that whilst he has “no illusions about difficulties... you have to believe in the possibilities to be able to get there.”
Equating the road to peace with the Holocaust memorial commemorations of Yom Hashoah that coincided with his second visit to the Jewish State inside a month, having earlier laid a wreath at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum on behalf of the American nation, he added: “I think the lesson of today is underscored in your comments about the possibilities for peace, the possibilities for people to live together without hatred, and finding the common ground. I believe in that, and I know you believe in that.”
Paying tribute to Peres’ long and lauded history in Israeli politics as a celebrated man of peace, he insisted he remained “convinced there is a road forward”, as he expressed hopes to reach agreement on the steps “regarding how that road could be sort of reignited, if you will, once again setting out on that path”.
Invoking his joint ‘listening’ trip with Us President Barack Obama to Israel last month, he vowed: “We understand the nature of the threat of Iran. And as the President has said many times – he doesn’t bluff; he is serious – we will stand with Israel against this threat and with the rest of the world, who have underscored that all we are looking for is Iran to live up to its international obligations.”
Referencing last week’s failed talks between the P5+1 delegates and Iranian negotiators, he further promised that “no one will allow the diplomatic process to stand in the way of whatever choices need to be made to protect the world from yet another nuclear weapon in the wrong hands”.
A day earlier in his Yom Hashoah address, Peres seemingly invoked Iran’s repeated attempts to delegitimise the State of Israel, as he cautioned that “whoever ignored the threat against one nation must know that the threat of a Holocaust against one nation is a threat of a Holocaust against all nations”.
Proclaiming the formation of a the State of Israel in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust as the Jewish people’s “spiritual redemption and political rebirth”, he staunchly defended Israel’s right to secure the safety of its citizens, as he declared that “the Israel Defence Forces, which was formed in response to the attempt to annihilate the Jewish State which had just been created, is also the right lesson from the Holocaust. It is founded upon the bravery of Jews in the Holocaust”.
“The history of the Holocaust is not just a lesson from the past, it is also a lesson for the future. That we will know to defend ourselves against dangers and intercept them before time. That we can rely on ourselves. That we must maintain our moral legacy, which withstood even impossible situations. That we can maintain friendship with friends, and work with them to foster a better future, for every person, for every nation, for all nations. And to guard against humanity ever losing its humanity again,” he concluded.
Kerry is due to meet with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in separate meetings Tuesday on the final day of his visit. Ahead of his arrival in Israel, the Secretary of State made a stopover in Istanbul in the aftermath of Turkey’s thaw in relations with Israel, stalled following the flotilla incident of 2010 which claimed the lives of nine Turkish nationals. Expressing US satisfaction at the improved status of relations between the two former allies, as well as his hopes for Turkey’s future involvement in resuscitating the peace process, he nevertheless insisted that “it’s my hope that people will keep their eyes on the bigger goal, which is the relationship, the possibilities of peace, and putting the past into the past”.