John Kerry mocked for 2016 claim that 'there will be no separate peace' between Israel-Arab nations without the Palestinians
'Man... Has anyone been more abjectly wrong about something?' one critic asked
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Secretary of State John Kerry was panned on Wednesday for remarks he previously made declaring there would be no Middle East peace without the Palestinians.
On Tuesday, President Trump was joined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalif to sign the Abraham Accords, something the president hailed as the "dawn of a new Middle East."
The next day, however, a 2016 clip of Kerry resurfaced that cast doubt that any peace between Israel and the Arab world was possible without Palestinians being onboard.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There will be no separate peace between Israel and the Arab world," Kerry began at a speaking engagement. "I want to make that very clear with all of you. I've heard several prominent politicians in Israel sometimes saying, 'Well, the Arab world is in a different place now. We just have to reach out to them. We can work some things with the Arab world and we'll deal with the Palestinians.' No. No, no, and no."
He continued, "I can tell you that, reaffirmed within the last week because I've talked to the leaders of the Arab community, there will be no advanced and separate peace with the Arab world without the Palestinian process and Palestinian peace. Everybody needs to understand that. That is a hard reality."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The clip, which was shared by Institute for Policy & Strategy senior fellow Udi Evental, went viral with critics slamming the then-Obama official's debunked declaration.
"John Kerry with a 2016 Middle East take that aged like milk in a sauna," Tablet Magazine associate editor Noam Blum reacted.
"Exactly backwards. Remarkable," Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrich wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Man... Has anyone been more abjectly wrong about something?" National Review contributor Pradheep Shanker asked.
"I wondered why there wasn't a single Tweet praising yesterday signing of the historic peace deals on @JohnKerry's Twitter account. Now I know. It's frightening to see how many foreign policy experts got it wrong. But it's even more outrageous how few of them will even admit it." Jewish Telegraphic Agency contributor Joel Petlin tweeted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The only thing more amazing than this clip of John Kerry is that the Democrats are currently running on putting all the same people from this clueless administration back into the WH," Washington Free Beacon executive editor Brent Scher concluded.