(JNS.org) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is facing criticism from Israeli politicians for comments that have been perceived as linking the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the fight against the Islamic State terror group. “As I went around and met with people in the course of our discussions about the [coalition against Islamic State], the truth is there wasn’t a leader I met with in the region who didn’t raise with me spontaneously the need to try to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation that they felt – and I see a lot of heads nodding – they had to respond to,” Kerry said at a State Department ceremony honoring the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said, “It turns out that even when a British Muslim beheads a British Christian, there will always be someone who blames the Jews. We don’t justify terrorism, we fight terrorism. Kerry’s statement is a boost to global terrorism.”

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf denied that Kerry linked the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Islamic State. “It’s something that presidents of both parties for decades have said, that if we could make progress on Middle East peace, that would help create a more stable region, and the secretary was agreeing with what has been said publicly,” Harf said.