Flashback: John Kerry says there will be no 'peace between Israel and the Arab world'

close

Video

John Kerry mocked for 2016 claim that there will be no Middle East peace without Palestinians

President of Security Studies Jim Hanson reacts.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in 2016 there would be "no separate peace between Israel and the Arab world" without resolving long-standing conflict over Palestine.

President Trump, however, has managed to achieve some measure of it, brokering a number of deals between Israel and Arab countries including Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. 

"I’ve heard several prominent politicians in Israel sometimes saying, well, the Arab world is in a different place now. We just have to reach out to them, and we can work some things with the Arab world, and we’ll deal with the Palestinians," Kerry said at the 2016 Saban Forum hosted by the Brookings Institute around the 12:20 mark in the video. "No, no, no and no. I want to make that very clear to all of you."

The conversation was titled, "Challenges for the Trump administration in the Middle East."

TRUMP'S MIDDLE EAST PEACE DEALS 'REJECTED CONVENTIONAL WISDOM': STATE DEPT.

Trump began his string of peace deals in August when he helped formalize an agreement on a "full normalization of relations" between Israel and the UAE. 

President Donald Trump walks to the Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

As part of the agreement, Israel said it would "suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world."

KERRY VOWS TO TREAT CLIMATE CHANGE AS 'URGENT NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT'

The two nations did not come to a conclusion on tensions between Israel and Palestine but promised to continue their efforts to "achieve a just, comprehensive and enduring resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

Trump then helped negotiate peace deals between Israel and Bahrain in September and Israel and Sudan in October. Iran, Turkey and Palestine have condemned the deals. Palestinians are seeking a two-state solution with Israel.

Kerry, tapped as President-elect Joe Biden's climate czar, also helped former President Barack Obama negotiate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which proposed the removal of sanctions on Iran in exchange for its commitment to significantly reduce its nuclear capabilities.

ISRAEL PREPARING FOR POTENTIAL US MILITARY STRIKE ON IRAN: REPORT

The Trump administration withdrew from the deal in 2018, saying Iran had not delivered on its promise and therefore posed a threat to U.S. national security. 

Some foreign policy experts have suggested Biden will return to the deal once he takes office. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News' Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.