It’s not about the settlements, it’s about the terrorism

Secretary of State John Kerry argued that if Israel does not stop settlement activity and move forward with a two-state solution, the resulting friction will “create very fertile ground for extremists.”

But the fertile soils of Gaza and Ramallah, sowed with potent doses of incitement, have already produced bumper crops of extremism – and it has just as much to do with the Jews over in Tel Aviv or Sderot as it does with the Jews in east Jerusalem or Gush Etzion.

{mosads}And Kerry charged that the settlements and lack of two-state deal are “allowing a dangerous dynamic to take hold,” but that dangerous dynamic has long had its grip on the peace process in the form of multiple intifadas and evolving terrorist alliances.

Yes, the U.S. condemns and condemns. “We have consistently condemned violence and terrorism and even condemned the Palestinian leadership for not condemning it,” Kerry said with a certain huffiness, a tone that bemoaned how Washington condemns terror until blue in the face – before steering back to settlements.

But it’s that knife intifada, that unifying vow of international terror groups that they are coming for the al-Aqsa mosque, that determination to obliterate Israel that comprise the currently insurmountable main roadblock to a peace process.

And it’s not what you say to condemn terrorism – it’s what you do cognizant of current realities on the ground and future extremist growth potential to fight terrorism and prevent it.

Instead of levying material repercussions against the Palestinian Authority for 13-year-old Israeli-American Hallel Yaffa Ariel being stabbed to death in her bed by a Palestinian terrorist in June, the White House supports a government that pays a monthly stipend from a martyrs fund to the killer’s family. Sure, the U.S. condemned the attack, as always. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party predictably referred to Hallel’s killer as a “martyr” and his surviving relatives have reaped the benefits.

You can’t move forward if you’ve called for the cessation of American teens being murdered as they sleep and nobody’s listened, or “condemn” all the time without escalating punitive responses. You can’t give the Palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance and be blind to the fertile culture of jihad there that imperils the security of not just its neighbor.

ISIS operatives have been infiltrating Gaza – territory from which Israel withdrew as a concession to advance the peace process – as conquering Israel is a key component of their apocalyptic grand plan. There’s been a cozy marriage of convenience between Hamas and the ISIS fighters using the smuggling tunnels from the Sinai. According to Israeli officials, ISIS gets medical treatment and training for its fighters, while Hamas gets weapons and cold, hard cash.

Kerry admitted Hamas “continues to pursue an extremist agenda, they refuse to accept Israel’s very right to exist, they have a one-state vision of their own” – and while that should have been the beginning and end of a speech on why the peace process is stalled, it was relegated to an afterthought to cast broader blame on Israeli settlements.

Kerry said he wants two states side-by-side “where each can achieve their national aspirations,” but the stated aspiration of Hamas is to destroy Israel. Palestinian textbooks show Israel wiped off the map. Palestinian children’s shows have furry cartoon characters and young hosts glorifying intifada and killing Jews. Palestinian terrorists get paydays from the government and streets named in their honor; a pathway to peace cannot literally be paved with death.

Kerry said we have “long known what two states living side-by-side in peace and security looks like,” and “we should not be afraid to say so.” The secretary should take his advice and not be afraid to say that peace and security look like zero Hamas, no terrorist threat, no intifadas. He shouldn’t be afraid to admit that the motivation of the terrorists who want all of Israel burns bright with or without those settlements.

Bridget Johnson is a senior fellow with the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center and D.C. bureau chief for PJ Media.