WarSclerotic

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel on Tuesday night as part of ongoing U.S. efforts to mediate a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. His first stop was Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, where he lay a wreath at the monument that marks the spot where then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated on November 4, 1995.

“I come here without any illusions about the difficulties, but I come here determined to work with leaders … to try to find a way forward,” Kerry said, referring to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. “We will continue to work, and I promise Israelis that America will stand by the side of Israel every step of the way. We believe [peace] is something that is possible, that is good for all, and that it can be achieved.”

At Rabin Square, Kerry was joined by Yitzhak Rabin’s daughter Dalia Rabin and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, as well as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer.

On Wednesday morning, Kerry met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

“I want peace with the Palestinians, Israel wants peace with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu said. “We agreed three months ago on certain terms [to start negotiations]. We abide scrupulously by the terms of the agreement and the understandings under which we launched the negotiations. I’m concerned about their progress because I see the Palestinians continuing with incitement, continuing to create artificial crises, continuing to avoid and run away from the historic decisions that are needed to make a genuine peace.”

“I hope that your visit can help steer them back to a place where we could achieve a historical peace that we seek and that our people deserve,” Netanyahu told Kerry.

“Israel deserves security,” Kerry said in remarks that followed Netanyahu’s. “It deserves to live in peace. The Palestinians deserve a state and deserve to live in peace. That is what we are working toward.”

“We are now three months into these negotiations,” Kerry said. “There are always difficulties, there are always tensions. I’m very confident of our ability to work through them. That’s why I’m here.”

Later Wednesday, Kerry met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.

Kerry plans to step up his involvement in the peace talks and intends to meet with Netanyahu and Abbas every two weeks.

Meanwhile, days after Israel officially issued tenders for the construction of more than a thousand new housing units in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, a senior Palestinian official told AFP on Tuesday that peace talks could not move forward if Israel continues settlement construction.

‘”The Israeli side is determined to continue its settlement and we cannot continue negotiations under these unprecedented settlement attacks,” the official was quoted as saying after a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

“The Palestinian-Israeli negotiations broke down during the session on Tuesday night,” the official said.

American officials have said that the peace talks were progressing and that all core issues were on the table. Netanyahu has emphasized three red lines: Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, an Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley and keeping Jerusalem undivided.

Both Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Tuesday that Israel would not permit Jerusalem to become the capital of a Palestinian state.

“The Palestinians will have to give up on the idea that Jerusalem will be their capital,” Lapid said. “Countries don’t divide their capitals. Like the U.S. doesn’t divide Washington and England doesn’t divide London, we won’t divide Jerusalem.”

Sa’ar voiced a similar sentiment, telling Israel Radio that “in accordance with our position, [Jerusalem] will remain under Israeli sovereignty. We will not agree to divide the city into two capitals, which is what the Palestinians are demanding.”