Ayotte: How Can John Kerry Expect Israel to Negotiate With a Terrorist Organization?

AYOTTE: "First of all, I think the comments were completely inappropriate by Secretary Kerry. They were wrong. He obviously issued a statement which I would view as an apology. But puts into context the bigger issue, Andrea, which is the fact that if you look at where the Israelis are recently with the announcement of Hamas joining with the Fattah, you can understand how can Israelis be put in this position where you have Hamas that is a designated terrorist organization. If they are not willing to give up violence and willing to renounce their actions that have attacked Israel, I don't see how you can put the Israelis in that position. So I think the secretary's comments were wrong. They were inappropriate. The apology is appropriate. But he also raised the expectations here I think with the peace process in a way that was unrealistic, particularly given what you see the most recent actions between Hamas and Fattah in the Palestinian authority."
MITCHELL: "Is it better to not have tried at all?"
AYOTTE: "No, I appreciate that he has tried but he did create significant high profile expectations here and obviously the Israelis made a good faith effort with the release of some of the prisoners. That was not an easy decision to make by the prime minister. But now you have -- what do the Israelis do with Hamas, a terrorist organization? The recent announcement of the really of joining of Fattah and Hamas, how do you get into agreement with a terrorist organization that has not renounced violence and has certainly not said they will recognize a Jewish state."
MITCHELL: "We should point out that Secretary Kerry also said 'I will not allow my commitment to Israel to be questioned by anyone, particularly for partisan political purposes. So I want to be crystal clear what i believe and don't believe." So, there's quite -- you're correct to characterize it as an apology."
AYOTTE: "I think it was appropriate that he issued that statement and to acknowledge that the comments were inappropriate and at this point, obviously, to reaffirm his commitment to Israel."