State Department Denies Claim John Kerry Plans To Jumpstart Peace Talks
Image by Getty Images
The U.S. State Department spokesman forcefully denied that Secretary of State John Kerry had any plans to visit Israel in the near term to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.
“No plans by @JohnKerry to travel soon to Israel,” John Kirby said Saturday on Twitter in an unusual unsolicited reply to a Times of Israel story quoting Israel’s Channel 2 as saying that Kerry hoped to restart talks. “Also no plan by him to restart talks. Need both sides to reduce violence.”
Obama administration officials have said that after the failure of the Kerry-led 2013-2014 talks, they have concluded that the sides need to drive the talks, something they say is unlikely given the recent spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, and the Israeli response.
The Channel 2 report comes amid anxieties in Israel that President Barack Obama plans to use his lame duck year to impose a peace deal on the sides. Obama administration officials say there is no basis for such fears.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
