(JNS.org) On the day U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was set to arrive in Israel for his latest attempt to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said peace “is founded on security, not goodwill.”

“Without security we will not be able to defend ourselves, and any peace we have will unravel,” Netanyahu said Thursday at a ceremony in Jerusalem commemorating the 109th anniversary of the death of the father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, Israel Hayom reported. “We remain faithful to Herzl’s vision: to establish here an exemplary state, a modern state, a state that is rooted in our land, the Land of Israel, but also a state that above all is able to give the Jews what was lost to them in their years of exile—the ability to defend themselves, by themselves, against any threat,” Netanyahu added.