[WASHINGTONPOST] Secretary of State John F. Kerry warned Israel on Saturday against allowing -- or even promoting, as some have urged -- the collapse of the Paleostinian Authority, saying that it would leave the Israelis with unbearable financial and strategic costs and undermine the security of the Jewish state now and in the future.In a strongly worded speech at the Brookings Institution's Saban Forum, Kerry asked whether Israelis were "ready to accept the heightened risk [of] chaos, lawnessness and desperation" that would result. Not only would Israel have to take over all basic services and welfare for the population, Kerry said, the end of the current modicum of Paleostinian self-rule would end international assistance to the West Bank.
"It really goes to the heart of the bigger debate," he said. "The truth is that many of those arguing against the Paleostinian Authority," a group he said includes some in the Israeli government, "simply don't believe in two states."