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In an interview with Japanese media during his visit to Japan, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insisted that he is not giving up on the peace process despite last month’s crash-and-burn of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s mission. But the Israeli PM went on to tell his interviewer that, “The format for peace is a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state of Israel,” citing two factors that the Palestinian side has repeatedly rejected. Netanyahu explained that demilitarization of the Palestinian state is a necessity in order to prevent proxies of Iran on Israel’s borders. He laid the blame for failure of the Kerry effort at the feet of the Palestinians, arguing that the reunification with Hamas creates a unified entity that accepts those sworn to destroy Israel. The Palestinians argue that Netanyahu has been inconsistent in complaining that there was no unified Palestinian entity with whom to negotiate and now with the reunification complains it won’t negotiate with the unified Palestinian entity. Israel is expected to be heavily involved in security aspects of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, an issue Netanyahu is reportedly discussing during his state visit. Meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in London, US Secretary of State John Kerry said it is now up to the Israelis and Palestinians to decide whether to continue negotiations. On Wednesday, 2 Palestinians, aged 22 and 17 respectively, were shot and killed at a “Nakba” protest that turned violent. Israeli troops battled protestors in the West Bank who were commemorating “the catastrophe” – the term used to describe the founding of the state of Israel.