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 Speaking to reporters before their talks, Kerry made no reference
to Netanyahu's suggestion this week that Haj Amin al-Husseini, the
Mufti of Jerusalem during the 1940s, persuaded Adolf Hitler to
exterminate the Jews.
Those comments, which come after three weeks of Israeli-Palestinian
violence, have attracted wide criticism from Israeli opposition
politicians and Holocaust experts, who accused the prime minister of
distorting the historical record.
Nine Israelis have been killed in Palestinian stabbings, shootings
and vehicle attacks since the start of October, while 48
Palestinians, including 24 attackers, among them children, have been
killed by Israeli security forces in response.
Among the causes of the turmoil are Palestinians' anger at what they
see as Jewish encroachment on the al-Aqsa mosque compound in
Jerusalem's Old City, Islam's holiest site outside Saudi Arabia,
which is also revered by Jews as the location of two ancient
temples.
 "It is absolutely critical to end all incitement, to end all
violence and to find a road forward to build the possibility, which
is not there today, for a larger process," Kerry told reporters as
he and Netanyahu posed for pictures.
Kerry said he hoped that the two men could agree on steps "that take
us beyond the condemnations and beyond the rhetoric."
Diplomats hold out little hope for any resumption of broader
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which collapsed in 2014.
Netanyahu blamed the Palestinians for the recent surge in killings,
singling out Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"There is no question that wave of attacks is driven directly by
incitement. Incitement from Hamas, incitement from the Islamist
movement in Israel, and incitement, I am sorry to say, from
President Abbas," he said.
A senior U.S. State Department official told reporters that Kerry
hopes to persuade both sides to "tamp down" their rhetoric during a
four-day trip to Europe and the Middle East in which he also plans
to meet Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah.
His tone mirrored that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a joint
news conference with Netanyahu on Wednesday evening.
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"We have to do everything to calm down the situation and in this
spirit I think all sides need to make a contribution," she said.
It is not clear why Netanyahu launched into the issue of the
then-Mufti of Jerusalem, Husseini. His remarks come with
Israeli-Palestinian tensions at a new peak, notably over the
Jerusalem holy site overseen by the current mufti.
Israel says it respects the status quo, which allows tourists and
non-Muslim visitors to enter the Al Aqsa compound at some hours but
forbids non-Muslim prayer.
Palestinians say that ultra-Orthodox and national-religious Jews are
exploiting the rules to enter the area, called the Noble Sanctuary
by Muslims and the Temple Mount by Jews, in growing numbers and
surreptitiously pray there, in breach of the status quo.
Israel says it expels anyone who prays, but the practice continues
and some Israel government ministers have been open about
encouraging Jewish access to the area, saying all monotheistic
religions should have the right to pray.
U.S. officials say they hope a change in the rhetoric over the holy
site could help ease tensions more generally.
(Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Noah Barkin and Susan
Thomas)
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