Kerry urges end to 'all incitement' in Israel and Palestine

US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged both the Palestinians and Israelis to halt "all incitement" and violence, after three weeks of attacks in Israel and Palestine sparked fears of a new Palestinian Intifada.

 

Speaking on Thursday in Berlin after a meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Kerry said: "It is absolutely critical to end all incitement, to end all violence and to find a road forward to build the possibility, which is not there today, for a larger process."

 

"Today, we, you and I, can rekindle that process," Kerry told Netanyahu. "We've been at this, we know each other well, I believe we have the ability to make a difference."

 

He added that he had spoken on the phone with Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the past 24 hours. 

 

"I believe people want this to de-escalate. So, let's go to work and see what we can do," said Kerry.

 

Dozens of Palestinians and several Israelis have died in violence over the last few weeks, sparked by violent disputes over access to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem. 

 

The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, earlier this month declared the violence the beginning of a Third Intifada by Palestinians.

 

 

"There is no question that this wave of attacks was driven directly by the incitement, the incitement of Hamas, the incitement of the Islamist movement in Israel and the incitement, I am sorry to say, from president Abbas and the Palestinian Authority," said Netanyahu. 

 

"I think it is time for the international community to say clearly to president Abbas: stop spreading lies about the state of Israel," he added.

 

Netanyahu's comments came after he claimed on Tuesday at the World Zionist Congress that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini in 1941 incited Adolf Hitler to carry out the Holocaust.

 

“Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said: 'If you expel them, they’ll all come here [to Palestine].'" According to Netanyahu, Hitler then asked: “What should I do with them?” and the mufti replied: "Burn them."

 

Netanyahu yesterday stated that he "didn't mean to absolve Hitler of responsibility, but to show that the father of the Palestinian nation wanted to destroy Jews even without occupation".