JERUSALEM - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has set off a furor in Israel by suggesting that Israel was destroying itself as a Jewish state. Kerry told a conference on Israeli affairs in Washington on Saturday that through its continued occupation of the West Bank, Israel could make it impossible to partition the land between Jewish and Palestinian states. He said the alternative would have to be a "binational state" in which Jews and Palestinians live together in one state, ending Israel's Jewish majority.

"The one-state solution is no solution at all for a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel living in peace, it is simply not a viable option," Kerry said.

The U.S., along with most of the international community, has long argued that a "two-state solution" — establishing a Palestinian state and ending Israel's control over millions of Palestinians in territories occupied in the 1967 war — is the best way of creating a long-term peace.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted angrily on Sunday, telling his Cabinet that "Israel will not be a binational state" and blaming the Palestinians for the failure of peace efforts. But despite Netanyahu's pledges, Jewish settlement of the West Bank continues apace, while confusion over his true intentions grows by the day. (AP)