On Oct. 13, Secretary of State John Kerry suggested at a forum hosted at Harvard that Israel's building additional residences in West Bank towns--which Israel's opponents refer to as building settlements, carrying the connotation that Jews are "settling" land that belongs to someone else--is provoking the current wave of attacks against Israel. The following day, Kerry's spokesman at the U.S. Department of State--John Kirby--was asked to clarify Kerry's remarks.
Kirby was asked, "You do consider it an act of terrorism. Okay, so that would suggest then that you believe that this is--that both sides are, in fact, committing these..." Kirby cut off the questioner to respond, "Well, I would say certainly individuals on both sides of this divide are--have proven capable of, and in our view [are], guilty of acts of terror."
Israelis whom Breitbart News talked to on the streets of Jerusalem were less than enthusiastic about the comparison.
Yoav Rotem is a tour guide in Israel, whose business takes groups to historical, cultural, and religious sites across the country, as well as conducting wine-tasting tours. Shown this quote, he responded, "It's a bit stupid. Two Israelis were involved in an act that was terrible but he's putting me in the same category as if I were a terrorist.
I do not want to wipe the Palestinian people off the map." Rotem noted that his perspective was as someone who deals daily with foreigners as he takes them on tours. He believes that Israelis who do not regularly deal with Americans might have a more blunt assessment: "Many regular Israelis would simply say of Kerry, 'He's a son of a bitch.'"