Israelis have been subject to an onslaught of violence against them in the form of stabbings in public over the past couple of weeks.

A couple of nights ago at Harvard, Secretary of State John Kerry blamed the violence on “a massive increase of settlements.” Elliott Abrams said eyewash to that pointing out there has no dramatic population increase or size of the settlements. Abrams then added this point:

Moreover, his claim is plain silly. The slow but steady growth in population in settlements is a completely unpersuasive explanation for the sudden outbreak of violence. That outburst of violence and terror appears linked to lies about Israel changing the status quo at the Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif. But whatever its explanation, the false linkage to settlements is of a piece with the Obama administration’s continuing obsession with that subject–despite all the evidence. It’s remarkable that the Secretary of State, who has spent so much time with Israelis and Palestinians and has visited Jerusalem repeatedly, has not bothered to learn the basic facts. He is instead parroting Palestinian propaganda. In fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been under pressure and criticism from settler groups because he has restrained settlement population growth beyond the security barrier. To suffer those political attacks and then hear criticism from the secretary of state about a “massive increase in settlements” helps explain the lack of confidence Israeli officials feel in the Obama administration.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said today, “Secretary Kerry didn’t assign any specific blame for the recent tensions there.”

Like hell he didn’t.

There hasn’t been a Jew residing in Gaza in over ten years. Has this abated Palestinian hatred of Israel and the Jews? Not one iota and it won’t change one iota West Bank settlements are disbanded. These stabbings are the latest in the long line of orchestrated violence against Jews for having the nerve to live in a Jewish state. The Palestinians are taught to hate Jews from the time they are born until they time they die, especially if they become martyrs. The Palestinian raison d’être has always been the destruction of Israel.

Jews are being murdered for being Jews and all the Obama Administration can do is blame Jews. It is high time that the Palestinian Authority is held responsible for its anti-Semitic incitement.