JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israel's recently installed ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, defended U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in an interview with Time Magazine.
Dermer said Kerry's remarks at a conference in Munich last week were not meant to "pressure Israel," calling them "descriptive" rather than substantive.
"I think he was making a descriptive statement," Dermer said. "I don't think he was doing it in order to pressure Israel."
"Secretary Kerry is opposed to the boycotting of Israel, something he made clear again this week," Dermer said. "President Obama has also been crystal clear about that."
In Munich, Kerry told conference participants "Today's status quo [between Israelis and the Palestinian Authority] absolutely, to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained. It's not sustainable. It's illusionary."
"You see for Israel there's an increasing de-legitimization campaign that has been building up There is talk of boycotts and other kinds of things," Kerry said, asking, "Are we all going to be better with all that?"
Numbers of Israeli officials criticized Kerry's remarks, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the threatened boycott would distance a negotiated settlement.
"Attempts to impose a boycott on the State of Israel are immoral and unjust," Netanyahu told cabinet ministers following Kerry's speech. He said it would fall short of its goal because it encourages the Palestinians to stick with their "intransigent positions," which pushes peace further away.
Netanyahu said he would never agree to compromise on the "vital interests of the State of Israel, especially on the security of Israel's citizens."
Meanwhile, Bar-Ilan University Prof. Efraim Inbar addressed the issue in an opinion piece entitled "The Boycott Mirage," posted by Arutz Sheva.
Inbar said Kerry's remarks "feed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign being waged by Israel's enemies and create the false impression that this campaign is a significant threat to Israel."
"The BDS effort has thus far had little success," he explained. "For the moment and for the near future, it constitutes a bearable nuisance for Israel, not more."
"Israel has the leeway to decide for itself what is good for its future," Inbar concluded.
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