Netanyahu: ‘I Must Express My Deep Disappointment’ With Kerry — ‘Israelis Do Not Need To Be Lectured’

Wednesday while responding to outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry’s remarks on the Middle East peace process in light of the Obama administration’s failure to veto the recent U.N. resolution criticizing Israeli settlements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I must express my deep disappointment with the speech today of John Kerry,” adding “Israelis do not need to be lectured of the importance of peace by foreign leaders.”

Netanyahu said, “Now, I must express my deep disappointment with the speech today of John Kerry. A speech that was almost as unbalanced as the anti-Israel resolution passed at the U.N. last week. In a speech about peace between Palestinians and Israelis, Secretary Kerry played lip service to the unremitting campaign of terrorism that has been waged by the Palestinians against the Jewish state for nearly a century. What he did was to spend most of his speech blaming Israel for the lack of peace  by passionately condemning a policy enabling Jews to live in their historic homeland and in their internal capitol Jerusalem. Hundreds of suicide bombings, ten of thousands of rockets, millions of Israels in bomb shelters  are not throwaway lines  in a speech. They’re the reality that the people of Israel had to endure because of mistaken policies. Policies at the time won the thunderous applause of the world.”

“I don’t seek applause, I seek the security and peace and prosperity and the future of the Jewish state,” he continued. “The Jewish people have sought their place under the sun for 3,000 years and we are not about to be dissuaded by mistaken policies that have caused great damage. Israelis do not need to be lectured of the importance of peace by foreign leaders. Israel’s hand has been extended to its neighbors since day one, from its very first day. We pray for peace. We worked for it everyday since then. Thousands of Israel families have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country and advance peace. My family has been one of them. There are many, many others. No one wants peace more than the people of Israel. Israel remains committed to resolving the outstanding differences between us and the Palestinians through direct negotiations. This is how we made peace with Egypt. This is how we made peace with Jordan. It is the only way we’ll make peace with the Palestinians. That’s always been Israel’s policy.”

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