US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that the US “could not, in good conscience, stand in the way” of last week’s UN vote to bar Israel from expanding settlements onto Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“The two-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestianians,” Kerry said, in an impassioned speech billed as an outline of the administration’s vision for peace in the Middle East.
“My job, above all, is to defend the United States of America,” he said. “If we were to stand idly by and know that we were allowing a dangerous dynamic to take hold in a region in which we have vital interests, we would be derelict in our responsibilities.”
Kerry added that “the US’ friendship with Israel does not mean that we should accept any policy” Israel espouses.
“Friends need to tell each other the hard truths,” he said, insisting that the US had acted “in accordance with our values” when it chose not to veto the UN resolution. “And friendships require mutual respect.”
The vote — which passed 14-0 with only the US abstaining — infuriated Israel and prompted President-elect Donald Trump to promise that “things will be different” at the UN after he takes office on January 20. It has also worsened
the already-chilly relations between Neytanyahu and President Obama, stemming most prominently from the US-led nuclear negotiations with Iran and Obama’s longstanding opposition to Israel’s settlement policy.
Read the full article by Natasha Bertrand at Business Insider Australia.