以色列批评克里插手其事务

 　　以色列批评克里插手其事务

　　JERUSALEM, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israeli politicians scrambled¹ to do damage control on Tuesday, following harsh statements attributed to Defense² Minister Moshe Ya'alon regarding U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's performance on Tuesday.

　　Israel's Yedioth Aharonot daily published on Tuesday comments attributed to hawkish³ Ya'alon, who said that Kerry should "get a Nobel Prize and leave us (Israel) alone."

　　The defense minister reportedly complained ahead of one of Kerry's ten trips to the region since July of last year that there were no negotiations⁴ between Israel and the Palestinians in the past month, but between Israel and the Americans.

　　Ya'alon, who headed the Israeli army's West Bank Division and Central Command during the second Palestinian intifada, has also slammed a U.S.-devised security provisions for an Israeli pullout from the West Bank if a peace deal is established, reportedly saying that it is "not worth the paper it's written on."

　　The harsh statements led to a furious response on Tuesday afternoon from the U.S. State Department.

　　"The remarks of the defense minister, if accurate, are offensive and inappropriate, especially given all that the United States is doing to support Israel's security needs," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

　　"Secretary Kerry and his team have been working day and night to try to promote a secure peace for Israel because of the secretary's deep concern for Israel's future," Psaki said. "To question his motive⁵ and distort his proposals is not something we would expect from the defense minister of a close ally," she added.

　　Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to calm down the rhetoric⁶ and control the damage caused by his cabinet minister.

　　"Even when we have disagreements with the United States, they are always on the heart of the matter, not on the merits of an individual," Netanyahu said in front of the Knesset (parliament) plenum in a special assembly marking 65 years since its establishment, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

　　"The U.S. is our greatest ally," Netanyahu said. "We are partners in goals and joint⁷ interests: regional stability, the war on terror, growth, security and peace. We are making efforts to bring security to the region and stand up for our interests."

　　Following the reports in Yedioth, Ya'alon's bureau released a statement saying that Israel attaches great value to its ties with the United States, but did not deny or retract⁸ the reported remarks.

　　"The relationship between Israel and the U.S. is intimate and of great significance to us. The U.S. is our greatest friend and most important ally, and when divisions emerge we work them out behind closed doors," Ya'alon said in a statement released hours after the newspaper quoted him describing Kerry.

　　Ministers and lawmakers reacted to the reported remarks, with some calling on Netanyahu to dismiss Ya'alon from his post.

　　"You can oppose negotiations professionally and responsibly without tongue-lashing and destroying relations with Israel's top ally," Justice Minister and lead peace negotiator Tzipi Livni said in a post on her Facebook page.

　　"I think Ya'alon is revealing the true face of Netanyahu's government," opposition⁹ leader Isaac Herzog told Israel's Army Radio, calling on Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid to pull their parties out of Netanyahu's coalition¹⁰ and form a center-left bloc¹¹ that would seek to topple the government.

　　Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said that while he agreed with the content of Ya'alon's remarks, Israel must refrain from "personal insults" in voicing disagreement with the U.S.

　　Kerry has visited Israel multiple times since assuming his post in February 2012 in an attempt to kick start the peace process after a three year halt stagnated¹² the talks. He managed to revive the talks in July of that year.

　　Kerry continues to closely escort the process and presenting both sides with suggestions and proposals in order to create a framework for the parties to reach an agreement, even as reports mount that the talks have deteriorated¹³.

　　Despite repeated declarations of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States there have been tensions recently reported between the countries.

　　On the issue of the diplomatic contacts with Iran, Israel rejected the U.S. efforts to reach an interim¹⁴ agreement with Iran, charging Iranian leaders with trying to stall for time instead of stopping their nuclear program, whereas the United States worked hard to end the 30 years of hostility¹⁵ with Teheran.

　　As for the peace talks with the Palestinians, although the United States did adopt many of Israel's security demands, Israel has repeatedly been condemned¹⁶ by its ally for its continual construction of thousands of housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem settlements, despite explicit¹⁷ requests not to do so.

1 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

6 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 retract   

vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消

参考例句：

• The criminals should stop on the precipice, retract from the wrong path and not go any further.犯罪分子应当迷途知返，悬崖勒马，不要在错误的道路上继续走下去。
• I don't want to speak rashly now and later have to retract my statements.我不想现在说些轻率的话，然后又要收回自己说过的话。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

12 stagnated   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句
• His mind has stagnated since his retirement. 他退休后头脑迟钝了。 来自辞典例句

13 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

14 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

15 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

16 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

17 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。