John Kerry

Senator, you tell me how I'm supposed to do that. I don't have any police, I don't have any radios, I don't have any cars, I don't have any people who are trained.

While the opportunity and need for robust U.S. leadership is clear, so, too, are the challenges ahead.

I still believe that if people in that region saw a genuine hope of a way forward, then the traction that those people who are extreme would have greatly diminish.

The opportunity that we have now is very directly linked to whether we can show the two peoples, if you like, the Israelis and the Palestinians, that, even though there has been all this history of past failure, nonetheless it's possible…

If in Gaza people said, 'Violent resistance, we are now--that's out. What we're going to do is, we're going to use this political process,' you would be concluding the negotiations for a state.

We are in a better position to secure the right outcome at that moment, and peacefully, if we show there is a genuine, credible vision for a two-state solution.

We have different Palestinian leadership.

There is an increasing sense of urgency on this issue, and many see the window of opportunity to reach a comprehensive peace and a two-state solution getting smaller.

President Obama said recently... he would be looking for gestures and actions consistent with finding a way through to peace.

The declared and clear and credible objective of ending up with two states: a state of Israel, a state of Palestine.

My basic view is that those issues, although immensely challenging, are resolvable.

The people ought to be working it out. They ought to be negotiating.

The alternative to a two-state solution is a one-state solution, but then there's going to be a big fight.

If we are to succeed in achieving this two-state solution, it's true that we have to negotiate these difficult and complex issues, if you like, from the top down.

One particularly promising diplomatic opening is Saudi King Abdullah's Arab Peace Initiative, which never received the focus that many think it deserved when it was proposed in 2002.

President Obama's appointment of Senator George Mitchell--a good friend of many on this committee, including myself--was a tremendous step forward, and an indication of the Obama administration's commitment to achieving a lasting and…

The concept of violent resistance has got to be consigned to the history books.

The Arab world has decided that it wants this issue resolved; it really does.

I hope, as we hear from you today, that we can work together collectively to overcome the many obstacles that exist and encourage the compromises that will need to be made in order to facilitate a comprehensive two-state solution between…

I think, for the Palestinian side, it's fairly obvious, again, what they can do for the Israelis.

If there are terrorists, as there are in Gaza, who are firing rockets into Israel... that is obviously an immensely serious security challenge for the Israelis.

The Israelis need to know the West Bank will be run as, for example, Jordan runs its security, rather than like Gaza.

It's important that settlement activity does not put at risk the concept and viability of the Palestinian state.

We also have to deal with the on-the-ground problems from the bottom up.

This is a strategic priority for the United States, to advance toward a negotiated two-state solution.