JERUSALEM/FILE: An Israeli newspaper says Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon described U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace "messianic" and "obsessive"

Record ID: 401006

  • Title: JERUSALEM/FILE: An Israeli newspaper says Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon described U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace "messianic" and "obsessive"
  • Date: 14th January 2014
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (RECENT) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY MEETING WITH ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU AND SHAKING HANDS ISRAELI AND US FLAGS RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF KERRY MEETING WITH PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS
  • Embargoed: 29th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACF440L7Z69NC0YT39C1CJVLCX
  • Story Text: Israel's defence minister called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace 'messianic', a newspaper said on Tuesday (January 14), reporting what it described as remarks made behind closed doors.
    Yaalon was quoted as saying: "Secretary of State John Kerry - who has come to us determined and is acting out of an incomprehensible obsession and a messianic feeling - cannot teach me a single thing about the conflict with the Palestinians."
    The newspaper also reported that he said: "The only thing that can save us is if Kerry wins the Nobel prize and leaves us alone."
    Yedioth said Yaalon voiced his comments in private conversations before one of Kerry's recent mediation visits to the region, but gave no specific date.
    Moshe Yaalon's spokesman declined comment on the account in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest newspaper.
    Yaalon has often cast doubt on the chances of reaching a deal with the Palestinians. He is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and a former army chief who was replaced before Israel's 2005 unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip, a move he opposed.
    The report appeared hours after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden left Israel, where he attended the funeral of former leader Ariel Sharon and held talks with Netanyahu.
    Kerry has been on a diplomatic blitz in recent weeks to persuade Israel and the Palestinians, who resumed statehood talks in July after a three-year deadlock, to agree on an outline proposal addressing the core issues of their conflict.
    One of the sticking points in the negotiations, which have shown few signs of progress, has been Israel's demand to maintain a military presence under any future peace deal in the Jordan Valley, between Jordan and the occupied West Bank. Kerry presented ideas for security arrangements in the Jordan Valley, but neither side has publicly endorsed them.
    According to the newspaper report, Yaalon said: "The American security plan is not worth the paper it is written on."
    Yaalon has often cast doubt on the peace intentions of Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, who seeks a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
    Yedioth quoted Yaalon as questioning whether Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority lost control of the Gaza Strip to rival Hamas Islamists in a brief civil war in 2007, would be able to remain in power in the West Bank after any Israeli pullout.
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