Does Kerry need to convince AIPAC to support peace?

The U.S. secretary of state’s comments raise the question of whether he’s convinced Netanyahu is ready to make the compromises necessary for peace – or whether he needs AIPAC’s support to do so.

Does Kerry need to convince AIPAC to support peace?
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses the staff and families at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem on April 8, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
U.S. Secretary of State Kerry seems to think that should the occasion ever arise, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will require the support of his friends in Washington in order to sign a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Kerry took time out of his busy schedule in London to send a video message to a closed AIPAC summit taking place in California wine country on Monday.

Click for +972’s full coverage of ‘The Process’

Most of the message was focused on reassuring AIPAC that the U.S. is committed to preventing a nuclear armed Iran, but he also slipped in a few interesting words about the peace process.

“If Prime Minister Netanyahu decides that it is in the best interests of the people of Israel to make reasonable compromises for peace, he will need to know that you have his back,” the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying.

Kerry’s need to urge the lobby to support a two-state solution seems to imply that it does not support one – and that it is somehow not in sync with Netanyahu. But AIPAC’s official policy and rhetoric – just like the Netanyahu government – is to support a two-state solution, which both AIPAC and the prime minister define as “a Jewish state of Israel living in peace with a demilitarized Palestinian state — with an end to all claims.”

So why the need to encourage AIPAC’s members to make their “voices heard” in support of the “courageous choice” Netanyahu had made to engage in direct talks with the Palestinians?

If Kerry feels the need to urge AIPAC to support a solution it already officially supports – and one that is already underway – you know something is wrong.

In effect, Kerry has inadvertently exposed that these renewed “peace talks,” known in fact, as “the Kerry initiative” – since he seems to be the only one really pushing for it – have no legs.

Just as interesting, however, was the first half of Kerry’s quote. “If Prime Minister Netanyahu decides that it is in the best interests of the people of Israel to make reasonable compromises for peace…”

Is the secretary of state not convinced that Netanyahu has decided it is in the best interests of Israel to make even reasonable compromises for peace?

Related: 
Yair Lapid reveals true nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 
Abbas performs the peace dance