Kerry to U.S. Jews: Next few days will determine Middle East fate for decades

1 Thessalonians 5:3-5 KJV
"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. [5] Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."

The coming days will be crucial for both Israelis and Palestinians, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday, warning against the dire implications of failing to reach a two-state solution.
In a speech to the American Jewish Committee, Kerry stressed to a strongly pro-Israel crowd the need for urgent progress on a peace deal ending more than six decades of conflict, providing Israel with regional security and the Palestinians with their long-sought independent state.
"If we do not succeed now, we may not get another chance," Kerry said about the peace process, describing it as "hardly a process at all" right now.

"I have heard all of the arguments for why it is too difficult to end this conflict," he added. "Cynicism has never solved anything. It has never given birth to a state, and it won't."
Kerry warned that without a two-state solution, Israel will have to choose between its Jewish and democratic nature. He also stressed the need to recognize the fundamental aspirations of the Palestinian people.
Those who believe the Israeli-Palestinian status quo is sustainable and that the separation fence will bring security to Israel are "lulling themselves into a delusion," the U.S. secretary of state said.

Kerry also warned that Israel would be isolated in the international arena if the standstill continues. The Palestinians have already begun considering opting for unilateral efforts at the United Nations, and if they do so, they will garner more votes than they did last time, when they sought – and achieved – non-member observer state status, he said. Furthermore, the eruption of a protest movement in the West Bank would result in greater deligitimization of Israel, said Kerry, cautioning against the dire potential of what might happen if the Palestinian Authority were to collapse.
The U.S. secretary of state said the best way to guarantee Israel's security would be by reaching a two-state solution, and that one state for two peoples is simply an unrealistic scenario for both sides.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials said Monday that Kerry will return to the Middle East next week in another bid to revitalize peace hopes, with the contours of a package possibly emerging to lure Israel and the Palestinians back into direct negotiations.

It will be Kerry's fifth trip to the Jewish state since becoming America's top diplomat in February. He will also visit the West Bank and Jordan to push for a restart in face-to-face peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders that broke down nearly five years ago, the -officials said.
"I am confident that both sides are weighing the choices that they have in front of them very, very seriously," Kerry told reporters Monday. "They need to have an opportunity to do that, and I will make a judgment at some point whether I need to go push a little bit or help that process. And I'm certainly willing to. I am open to that possibility, but as I've said, we're not raising any expectations about an American plan or other things."

The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly on Kerry's travel plans and demanded anonymity. But details of the trip dovetail with Kerry's own assessment of the shrinking window for a breakthrough in a process he started with U.S. President Barack Obama's blessing in March.