US Secretary of State John Kerry rejected the idea that he in any way considers Israel to be an apartheid state and expressed regret for use of the term during a recent closed meeting.
Kerry reportedly told a closed forum of international leaders at the Trilateral Commission forum on Friday that if peace between Israel and the Palestinians fail Israel is in danger of becoming an “apartheid state.”
A leaked recording quoted Kerry warning that, “a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens — or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state.”
Although there was no official Israeli comment, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki looked to diffuse the situation yesterday, explaining that, “Secretary Kerry, like Justice Minister Livni and previous Israeli Prime Ministers Olmert and Barak, was reiterating why there’s no such thing as a one-state solution if you believe, as he does, in the principle of a Jewish state.”
Late last night Kerry was even more vehement in rejecting any suggestion comparing Israel to apartheid South Africa, issuing a rare personal statement titled “On Support for Israel.”
While he pointedly did not apologize for his remarks, Kerry stressed he was, and is, a strong supporter of Israel, which he called a “vibrant democracy.”
In the statement he said, “I do not believe, nor have I ever stated, publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one.”
He explained, “I have been around long enough to also know the power of words to create a misimpression, even when unintentional, and if I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word to describe my firm belief that the only way in the long term to have a Jewish state and two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution.”
Kerry’s remarks drew sharp criticisms from pro-Israel groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), but also from Jewish Democrats, including the National Jewish Democratic Council.
Top Republicans also called for an apology.
“The use of the word apartheid has routinely been dismissed as both offensive and inaccurate, and Secretary Kerry’s use of it makes peace even harder to achieve,” Republican Eric Cantor, the U.S. House of Representatives majority leader and the most senior Jewish official in government, said.
Senator. Ted Cruz of Texas called for Kerry’s resignation and said he was “greatly saddened” to read the comments made. ‘’The term ‘apartheid’ means ‘apart’ — different, isolated — the state of the victims of apartheid with which the Jews are all too familiar. The notion that Israel would go down that path, and so face the same condemnation that met South Africa, is unconscionable,” Cruz said.