Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) reacted Tuesday to an interview with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the New Yorker, in which Kerry said he believes Israel is headed toward becoming a “unitary state that is an impossible entity to manage."
Kerry likewise warned that Israel could turn into a “big fortress."
"It's not a secret that we do not agree on everything," Ya'alon said, "including the offer that Secretary of State Kerry brought, over a year ago, to hold negotiations."
He reminded the interviewer that the US had proposed Israeli concessions when it pushed Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to hold talks last year - talks that were torpedoed in April 2014 when the PA signed a unity deal with Hamas.
"If we had implemented the American's offers," he argued, "in the area of security, for example, then today there would already be mortar shells striking Ben Gurion Airport, and rockets on Tel Aviv."
Ya'alon also rejected the conditions demanded by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Redogan for improving relations with Israel.
"The conditions that he sets are unacceptable," he said, "and if that is all there is, then there is nothing to talk about." The minister noted that world powers accuse Turkey of assisting Islamic State (ISIS), and that the operational headquarters of Israel's nemesis Hamas are in Istanbul.
"We need to solve things between him and the world and us, before we set conditions," he said.
Ya'alon also said that there is "a pileup" on President Reuven Rivlin and that it is "improper."