Moderator: The final question will be from Anne Gearan from The Washington Post.
Question: Mr. Secretary, Moaz al-Khatib has announced his resignation as head of the Syrian Opposition Coalition today. What is your view of that move and the internal divisions within the group that led up to it? And are you worried that the group is essentially disintegrating?
And secondly, since this is the first we’ve seen you since the President’s trip, can you tell us how optimistic you are that the Israelis and the Palestinians are really ready to sit down and bargain? Thank you.
Secretary Kerry: Thank you very much, Anne. With respect to Moaz al-Khatib, I’m personally sorry to see him go because I like him on a personal level, and because I have appreciated his leadership. But the notion that he might resign has, frankly, been expressed by him on many different occasions in many different places, and it is not a surprise. We have worked very closely with the newly chosen Prime Minister Hitto. We’ve worked with him in the delivery of aid. We have confidence about his abilities and the abilities of the Vice President’s and others around him. And it’s almost inevitable, in the transition of a group such as the opposition, for these kinds of changes to take place as it evolves.
We view this as a continuum. It’s not about one person. It’s about President Assad. It’s about a regime that is killing its own people. It’s about an opposition that is bigger than one person. And that opposition will continue, and I am confident personally that ultimately, President Assad is going to either negotiate his way out of office through the Geneva process, or, if he leaves people no choice, the opposition will forcibly change this regime. But I think that is going to continue, and the United States will continue to support the opposition.
Thank you all.
Question: With respect to --
Secretary Kerry: Oh, with respect to the Mideast process, I think the President’s trip to the Mideast was historic in every respect, and I know that the folks in Israel felt its impact. They were impressed by him, impressed by the vision that he expressed, and I think that his words even after he has left are reverberating. People are debating and talking, and that is precisely what the President sought to do.
So I think it was an extremely successful visit, a moving one for Israelis. I know for Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I saw last night, he felt very strongly that it was an outstanding meeting. And I know from the President, before he left, that he was very impressed by the discussions he had. He felt they were the best that he has had to date, and I think the stage has been set for the possibilities that parties can hopefully find a way to negotiations.
Now, I think all of us have learned in the course of the last years, through many presidents and many secretaries of States, there has been no more intractable problem. And so expressing optimism when you don’t even have negotiations would be foolhardy. What I have is hope. I have hope that the President’s words kindled a sense of the possible in the people of Israel and the region and the Palestinians. I think that he has charged me and others with the responsibility of trying to find out what the way forward is. And I engaged in some of that discussion yesterday, both with President Abbas as well as with Prime Minister Netanyahu and some of his team.
We have to keep working at this. We’ve just begun those discussions. I wouldn’t characterize them in any way except open, candid, and a good beginning, and that’s where I’ll leave it. Thanks, appreciate it.
(Source: US Embassy)
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