Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) demanded on the Senate floor Monday that Secretary of State John Kerry resign from his post following highly controversial remarks about the state of Israel.

Kerry came under fire from lawmakers and a variety of pro-Israel organizations after he told world leaders in a closed door meeting that Israel risks becoming "an apartheid state" if it fails to reach peace with the Palestinians.

Israel cut off peace talks late last week after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formed a unity government with the terror group Hamas, which announced that it would not renounce violence or recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Cruz said in a speech on the Senate floor that Kerry should immediately offer his resignation to President Barack Obama.

"John Kerry should offer President Obama his resignation and the president should accept it," Cruz said.

Cruz said that Kerry’s comments brought him "great sadness."

"There is no place for this word in the context of the state of Israel," Cruz said. "The term ‘apartheid,’ means ‘apart, different, isolated.’ The state of the victims of apartheid with which the Jews are tragically all too familiar."

Cruz said that Israel has nothing in common with apartheid South Africa.

The notion that Israel would go down that path and so face the same condemnation that faced South Africa is unconscionable," he said. "The United States should be aggressively asserting that Israel can never be made an apartheid nation while America exists and stands beside her. Because America will be with Israel regardless of the status of the diplomatic process."

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the nation’s leading pro-Israel lobbying outfit, also condemned Kerry, referring to his comments as "inappropriate" and disturbing.

Cruz's entire floor speech is available below: