Jonathan Alter on Kerry’s Apartheid Comment: ‘The Secretary Was Right’

FARROW: "Do you think this reaction is merited? It's been so forceful on both sides of the aisle. Every one from Ted Cruz, that we heard, to Barbara Boxer. Should this have happened?"
ALTER: "I guess my question for Senator Cruz and others reacting this way is, would they say the same thing to two former Israeli prime ministers -- Ehud Omer and Ehud Barack -- who also used apartheid? Do they believe that those prime ministers who ran the government of Israel are somehow out of bounds?"
[CROSSTALK]
FARROW: "That's an important point. They've used the term apartheid."
ALTER: "Right."
FARROW: "And in fact, this specific beat of press is not getting as dramatic reaction in Israel as in the United States."
ALTER: "Of course not. Because in Israel they actually let people debate the issues. The problem with secretary of state using this line is that it just distracts attention, it doesn't move the process forward, it creates one of these silly flaps and doesn't help. So I'm not saying it was a good thing for him to do. It's important to understand that Israel is not an apartheid state now and that moral opprobrium is harmful to Israel. And I say that as a strong supporter of the state of Israel. But the secretary was right that if demographic population trends continue, and there is no two-state solution, that Israel will face a choice: They either will cease to be a democracy or cease to be a Jewish state, one or the other."
FARROW: "This is the important nuance that it seems like a lot of these responses overlook. He wasn't talking about Israel now, he wasn't talking about Israel's intention, he was talking about what happens if we run away from a two-state solution."