[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 430-432]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S SPEECH ON A TWO-STATE SOLUTION TO THE 
                      ISRALEI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last week the junior Senator from Texas 
spoke about Secretary of State Kerry's recent speech explaining the 
administration's decision to not veto U.N. Security Council Resolution 
2334 and supporting a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel 
and the Palestinians. The Senator asserted that Secretary Kerry 
``equated'' Israel and Hamas, that President Obama and Secretary Kerry 
are ``relentless enemies of Israel'' who ``consider the existence and 
creation of Israel to be a disaster.'' He said their actions toward 
Israel were intended to ``facilitate assaults on the nation of 
Israel.'' He also accused them of ``turning a blind eye'' to terrorism.
  Anyone who reads Secretary Kerry's speech will recognize the fallacy 
of those baseless and inflammatory accusations. To the contrary, 
Secretary Kerry eloquently and compellingly and with a foreboding sense 
of urgency about the receding prospects for a two-state solution 
reaffirmed the administration's condemnation of terrorism and 
incitement, its unprecedented support for Israel's security, and his 
own longstanding commitment to Israel's survival as a democratic state, 
living in peace with its Arab neighbors.
  I urge all Senators to read his speech and to arrive at their own 
conclusions. The situation the Secretary describes should be alarming 
to anyone who wants peace and security for Israel and a viable, 
independent state for the Palestinian people, which are of vital 
importance to the national interests of the United States. While the 
Secretary's speech is too long to be printed in the Record in full, I 
ask unanimous consent that the first half of his remarks be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Remarks of John Kerry, Secretary of State, The Dean Acheson Auditorium, 
                   Washington, DC, December 28, 2016

       Thank you very much. For those of you who celebrated 
     Christmas. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Happy 
     Chanukah. And to everybody here. I know it's the middle of a 
     holiday week. I understand. But I wish you all a very, very 
     productive and Happy New Year.
       Today, I want to share candid thoughts about an issue which 
     for decades has animated the foreign policy dialogue here and 
     around the world--the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
       Throughout his Administration, President Obama has been 
     deeply committed to Israel and its security, and that 
     commitment has guided his pursuit of peace in the Middle 
     East. This is an issue which, all of you know, I have worked 
     on intensively during my time as Secretary of State for one 
     simple reason: because the two-state solution is the only way 
     to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and 
     Palestinians. It is the only way to ensure Israel's future as 
     a Jewish and democratic state, living in peace and security 
     with its neighbors. It is the only way to ensure a future of 
     freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people. And it is an 
     important way of advancing United States interests in the 
     region.
       Now, I'd like to explain why that future is now in 
     jeopardy, and provide some context for why we could not, in 
     good conscience, stand in the way of a resolution at the 
     United Nations that makes clear that both sides must act now 
     to preserve the possibility of peace.
       I'm also here to share my conviction that there is still a 
     way forward if the responsible parties are willing to act. 
     And I want to share practical suggestions for how to preserve 
     and advance the prospects for the just and lasting peace that 
     both sides deserve.
       So it is vital that we have an honest, clear-eyed 
     conversation about the uncomfortable truths and difficult 
     choices, because the alternative that is fast becoming the 
     reality on the ground is in nobody's interest--not the 
     Israelis, not the Palestinians, not the region--and not the 
     United States.
       Now, I want to stress that there is an important point 
     here: My job, above all, is to defend the United States of 
     America--to stand up for and defend our values and our 
     interests in the world. And if we were to stand idly by and 
     know that in doing so we are allowing a dangerous dynamic to 
     take hold which promises greater conflict and instability to 
     a region in which we have vital interests, we would be 
     derelict in our own responsibilities.

[[Page 431]]

       Regrettably, some seem to believe that the U.S. friendship 
     means the U.S. must accept any policy, regardless of our own 
     interests, our own positions, our own words, our own 
     principles--even after urging again and again that the policy 
     must change. Friends need to tell each other the hard truths, 
     and friendships require mutual respect.
       Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, 
     who does not support a two-state solution, said after the 
     vote last week, quote, ``It was to be expected that Israel's 
     greatest ally would act in accordance with the values that we 
     share,'' and veto this resolution. I am compelled to respond 
     today that the United States did, in fact, vote in accordance 
     with our values, just as previous U.S. administrations have 
     done at the Security Council before us.
       They fail to recognize that this friend, the United States 
     of America, that has done more to support Israel than any 
     other country, this friend that has blocked countless efforts 
     to delegitimize Israel, cannot be true to our own values--or 
     even the stated democratic values of Israel--and we cannot 
     properly defend and protect Israel if we allow a viable two-
     state solution to be destroyed before our own eyes.
       And that's the bottom line: the vote in the United Nations 
     was about preserving the two-state solution. That's what we 
     were standing up for: Israel's future as a Jewish and 
     democratic state, living side by side in peace and security 
     with its neighbors. That's what we are trying to preserve for 
     our sake and for theirs.
       In fact, this Administration has been Israel's greatest 
     friend and supporter, with an absolutely unwavering 
     commitment to advancing Israel's security and protecting its 
     legitimacy.
       On this point, I want to be very clear: No American 
     administration has done more for Israel's security than 
     Barack Obama's. The Israeli prime minister himself has noted 
     our, quote, ``unprecedented'' military and intelligence 
     cooperation. Our military exercises are more advanced than 
     ever. Our assistance for Iron Dome has saved countless 
     Israeli lives. We have consistently supported Israel's right 
     to defend itself, by itself, including during actions in Gaza 
     that sparked great controversy.
       Time and again we have demonstrated that we have Israel's 
     back. We have strongly opposed boycotts, divestment 
     campaigns, and sanctions targeting Israel in international 
     fora, whenever and wherever its legitimacy was attacked, and 
     we have fought for its inclusion across the UN system. In the 
     midst of our own financial crisis and budget deficits, we 
     repeatedly increased funding to support Israel. In fact, more 
     than one-half of our entire global Foreign Military Financing 
     goes to Israel. And this fall, we concluded an historic $38 
     billion memorandum of understanding that exceeds any military 
     assistance package the United States has provided to any 
     country, at any time, and that will invest in cutting-edge 
     missile defense and sustain Israel's qualitative military 
     edge for years to come. That's the measure of our support.
       This commitment to Israel's security is actually very 
     personal for me. On my first trip to Israel as a young 
     senator in 1986, I was captivated by a special country, one 
     that I immediately admired and soon grew to love. Over the 
     years, like so many others who are drawn to this 
     extraordinary place, I have climbed Masada, swum in the Dead 
     Sea, driven from one Biblical city to another.
       I've also seen the dark side of Hizballah's rocket storage 
     facilities just across the border in Lebanon, walked through 
     exhibits of the hell of the Holocaust at Yad Vashem, stood on 
     the Golan Heights, and piloted an Israeli jet over the tiny 
     airspace of Israel, which would make anyone understand the 
     importance of security to Israelis. Out of those experiences 
     came a steadfast commitment to Israel's security that has 
     never wavered for a single minute in my 28 years in the 
     Senate or my four years as Secretary.
       I have also often visited West Bank communities, where I 
     met Palestinians struggling for basic freedom and dignity 
     amidst the occupation, passed by military checkpoints that 
     can make even the most routine daily trips to work or school 
     an ordeal, and heard from business leaders who could not get 
     the permits that they needed to get their products to the 
     market and families who have struggled to secure permission 
     just to travel for needed medical care.
       And I have witnessed firsthand the ravages of a conflict 
     that has gone on for far too long. I've seen Israeli children 
     in Sderot whose playgrounds had been hit by Katyusha rockets. 
     I've visited shelters next to schools in Kiryat Shmona that 
     kids had 15 seconds to get to after a warning siren went off. 
     I've also seen the devastation of war in the Gaza Strip, 
     where Palestinian girls in lzbet Abed Rabo played in the 
     rubble of a bombed-out building.
       No children--Israeli or Palestinian--should have to live 
     like that.
       So, despite the obvious difficulties that I understood when 
     I became Secretary of State, I knew that I had to do 
     everything in my power to help end this conflict. And I was 
     grateful to be working for President Obama, who was prepared 
     to take risks for peace and was deeply committed to that 
     effort.
       Like previous U.S. administrations, we have committed our 
     influence and our resources to trying to resolve the Arab-
     Israeli conflict because, yes, it would serve American 
     interests to stabilize a volatile region and fulfill 
     America's commitment to the survival, security and well-being 
     of an Israel at peace with its Arab neighbors.
       Despite our best efforts over the years, the two-state 
     solution is now in serious jeopardy. The truth is that trends 
     on the ground--violence, terrorism, incitement, settlement 
     expansion and the seemingly endless occupation--they are 
     combining to destroy hopes for peace on both sides and 
     increasingly cementing an irreversible one-state reality that 
     most people do not actually want.
       Today, there are a similar number of Jews and Palestinians 
     living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. 
     They have a choice. They can choose to live together in one 
     state, or they can separate into two states. But here is a 
     fundamental reality: if the choice is one state, Israel can 
     either be Jewish or democratic--it cannot be both--and it 
     won't ever really be at peace. Moreover, the Palestinians 
     will never fully realize their vast potential in a homeland 
     of their own with a one-state solution.
       Now, most on both sides understand this basic choice, and 
     that is why it is important that polls of Israelis and 
     Palestinians show that there is still strong support for the 
     two-state solution--in theory. They just don't believe that 
     it can happen.
       After decades of conflict, many no longer see the other 
     side as people, only as threats and enemies. Both sides 
     continue to push a narrative that plays to people's fears and 
     reinforces the worst stereotypes rather than working to 
     change perceptions and build up belief in the possibility of 
     peace.
       And the truth is the extraordinary polarization in this 
     conflict extends beyond Israelis and Palestinians. Allies of 
     both sides are content to reinforce this with an us or--
     ``you're with us or against us'' mentality where too often 
     anyone who questions Palestinian actions is an apologist for 
     the occupation and anyone who disagrees with Israel policy is 
     cast as anti-Israel or even anti-Semitic.
       That's one of the most striking realities about the current 
     situation: This critical decision about the future--one state 
     or two states--is effectively being made on the ground every 
     single day, despite the expressed opinion of the majority of 
     the people.
       The status quo is leading towards one state and perpetual 
     occupation, but most of the public either ignores it or has 
     given up hope that anything can be done to change it. And 
     with this passive resignation, the problem only gets worse, 
     the risks get greater and the choices are narrowed.
       This sense of hopelessness among Israelis is exacerbated by 
     the continuing violence, terrorist attacks against civilians 
     and incitement, which are destroying belief in the 
     possibility of peace.
       Let me say it again: There is absolutely no justification 
     for terrorism, and there never will be. And the most recent 
     wave of Palestinian violence has included hundreds of 
     terrorist attacks in the past year, including stabbings, 
     shootings, vehicular attacks and bombings, many by 
     individuals who have been radicalized by social media. Yet 
     the murderers of innocents are still glorified on Fatah 
     websites, including showing attackers next to Palestinian 
     leaders following attacks. And despite statements by 
     President Abbas and his party's leaders making clear their 
     opposition to violence, too often they send a different 
     message by failing to condemn specific terrorist attacks and 
     naming public squares, streets and schools after terrorists.
       President Obama and I have made it clear to the Palestinian 
     leadership countless times, publicly and privately, that all 
     incitement to violence must stop. We have consistently 
     condemned violence and terrorism, and even condemned the 
     Palestinian leadership for not condemning it.
       Far too often, the Palestinians have pursued efforts to 
     delegitimize Israel in international fora. We have strongly 
     opposed these initiatives, including the recent wholly 
     unbalanced and inflammatory UNESCO resolution regarding 
     Jerusalem. And we have made clear our strong opposition to 
     Palestinian efforts against Israel at the ICC, which only 
     sets back the prospects for peace.
       And we all understand that the Palestinian Authority has a 
     lot more to do to strengthen its institutions and improve 
     governance.
       Most troubling of all, Hamas continues to pursue an 
     extremist agenda: they refuse to accept Israel's very right 
     to exist. They have a one-state vision of their own: all of 
     the land is Palestine. Hamas and other radical factions are 
     responsible for the most explicit forms of incitement to 
     violence, and many of the images that they use are truly 
     appalling. And they are willing to kill innocents in Israel 
     and put the people of Gaza at risk in order to advance that 
     agenda.
       Compounding this, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, 
     exacerbated by the closings of the crossings, is dire. Gaza 
     is home to one of the world's densest concentrations of 
     people enduring extreme hardships with few opportunities. 1.3 
     million people out of Gaza's population of 1.8 million are in 
     need of daily assistance--food and shelter. Most have 
     electricity less than half the time and only 5 percent of the 
     water is safe to drink. And yet

[[Page 432]]

     despite the urgency of these needs, Hamas and other militant 
     groups continue to re-arm and divert reconstruction materials 
     to build tunnels, threatening more attacks on Israeli 
     civilians that no government can tolerate.
       Now, at the same time, we have to be clear about what is 
     happening in the West Bank. The Israeli prime minister 
     publicly supports a two-state solution, but his current 
     coalition is the most right wing in Israeli history, with an 
     agenda driven by the most extreme elements. The result is 
     that policies of this government, which the prime minister 
     himself just described as ``more committed to settlements 
     than any in Israel's history,'' are leading in the opposite 
     direction. They're leading towards one state. In fact, Israel 
     has increasingly consolidated control over much of the West 
     Bank for its own purposes, effectively reversing the 
     transitions to greater Palestinian civil authority that were 
     called for by the Oslo Accords.
       I don't think most people in Israel, and certainly in the 
     world, have any idea how broad and systematic the process has 
     become. But the facts speak for themselves. The number of 
     settlers in the roughly 130 Israeli settlements east of the 
     1967 lines has steadily grown. The settler population in the 
     West Bank alone, not including East Jerusalem, has increased 
     by nearly 270,000 since Oslo, including 100,000 just since 
     2009, when President Obama's term began.
       There's no point in pretending that these are just in large 
     settlement blocks. Nearly 90,000 settlers are living east of 
     the separation barrier that was created by Israel itself in 
     the middle of what, by any reasonable definition, would be 
     the future Palestinian state. And the population of these 
     distant settlements has grown by 20,000 just since 2009. In 
     fact, just recently the government approved a significant new 
     settlement well east of the barrier, closer to Jordan than to 
     Israel. What does that say to Palestinians in particular--but 
     also to the United States and the world--about Israel's 
     intentions?
       Let me emphasize, this is not to say that the settlements 
     are the whole or even the primary cause of this conflict. Of 
     course they are not. Nor can you say that if the settlements 
     were suddenly removed, you'd have peace. Without a broader 
     agreement, you would not. And we understand that in a final 
     status agreement, certain settlements would become part of 
     Israel to account for the changes that have taken place over 
     the last 49 years--we understand that--including the new 
     democratic demographic realities that exist on the ground. 
     They would have to be factored in.
       But if more and more settlers are moving into the middle of 
     Palestinian areas, it's going to be just that much harder to 
     separate, that much harder to imagine transferring 
     sovereignty, and that is exactly the outcome that some are 
     purposefully accelerating.

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the complete text of the Secretary's 
speech, which, again, I urge all Senators to read in its entirety, can 
be found at the following Web site: https://www.state.gov/secretary/
remarks/2016/12/266119.htm.

                          ____________________