US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday either knowingly or unwittingly fed the lie that Israel is an apartheid state in the making due to the Jews inability to view their non-Jewish countrymen as equals.
Kerry was speaking at a closed door meeting with influential world leaders about his frustrations stemming from the latest failed round of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
In a recording of the meeting obtained by The Daily Beast, Kerry is heard telling his audience that at some point Israel is just going to have to bite the bullet and accept even a less-than-optimal peace deal. Otherwise, according to Kerry, “it 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.”
First of all, the remark ignores data demonstrating that even incorporating the so-called “West Bank,” Israel’s Jews do not face a serious demographic threat (we will report more on this tomorrow). More importantly, Kerry seems to have forgotten that Israel proper has over 1.5 million Arab citizens today, and that they enjoy full equality, and have done so for some 66 years.
President Barack Obama has previously rejected the use of the word “apartheid” in describing Israel, and Kerry was wrong to use it in this case, as well.
In reality, the very opposite is likely to be true. The millions of Arabs who could come under Israeli rule if a two-state solution is not reached are likely to be better off for it. According to both Arab Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians who have spoken to Israel Today in the past, the Jewish state is a regional paradise for all its citizens.