United States, AFP, 12 Nov 2015 – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told an Israeli gathering at the United Nations on Wednesday that a two-state solution in the Middle East was “not an impossible dream” but would require courage.

Kerry argued that choosing to recognize a Palestinian state “demands courage, demands leadership” and likened that choice to Herzog’s actions at the U.N. 40 years ago.

“Fear and bigotry can be defeated, but those are choices we now get to make. So now it’s our turn.”

The call for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement resonated at the U.N., where reviving the peace process is becoming a top agenda item at the Security Council.

Council members are weighing a draft resolution, presented by New Zealand that declares the two-state solution as “the only credible pathway to peace” and demands that both sides prepare for new talks.

International diplomats desperately want to revive peace talks to avoid a slide into more violence that many fear could lead to a third Palestinian intifada.

A weeks-long wave of violence has claimed the lives of at least 77 people on the Palestinian side – one of them an Israeli Arab – along with 10 Israelis.