Remarks by US State Secretary John Kerry linking the international campaign against Islamic State (IS) with the impasse in the Israel-Palestinian peace process have sparked a political storm in Israel and underlined the shaky state of Israel's strategic alliance with the US.
At a reception for the Muslim Eid festival at the State Department in Washington last Thursday evening, Mr Kerry said, in relation to the fight against IS: "There wasn't a leader I met in the region who didn't raise with me spontaneously the need to try to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation."
Israel's economy minister, Naftali Bennett, responded angrily, saying: "Even when a British Muslim decapitates a British Christian, there will always be someone to blame the Jew. To say that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is strengthening the Islamic State is encouraging global terror."
While other Israeli ministers criticised Mr Kerry's remarks, Mr Bennett's response, which seemed to be accusing the State Secretary of antisemitism, particularly irked Washington. A State Department spokeswoman accused Mr Bennett of "trying to distort [Mr Kerry's remarks] for political purposes", explaining that Mr Kerry was not connecting the issues but saying that a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict would have a stabilising effect on the region.
