House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) today released the following statement:

“Reports that Secretary Kerry has suggested Israel is becoming an apartheid state are extremely disappointing. The use of the word apartheid has routinely been dismissed as both offensive and inaccurate, and Secretary Kerry’s use of it makes peace even harder to achieve.

“Unfortunately, Secretary Kerry and the Obama Administration have often been quick to blame Israel for obstacles in the peace process, and have been comparatively silent about the continuing unwillingness of Palestinian leaders to even acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

“President Obama has rejected the use of the term apartheid in the past, correctly saying it is historically inaccurate and emotionally loaded. I hope that President Obama will again reiterate these views, and call on Secretary Kerry to apologize to the Israeli government and people.

If he is committed to a successful peace process, Secretary Kerry would do better to warn President Mahmoud Abbas of embracing Hamas, a terrorist organization that denies the Holocaust and is committed to the destruction of Israel.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)