Kerry defends Obama administration’s harsh stance on Israel

In his farewell speech as U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry ripped Israel on Wednesday, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of turning Israel away from democracy while staunchly defending President Obama’s decision to allow the UN Security Council to declare Israeli settlements illegal.

Kerry’s speech, which represents the latest in a series of events deepening the rift between the Obama administration and the United States’ closest Mideast ally, laid out a plan for peace he won’t be in office to implement.

“If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic, it cannot be both, and it won’t ever really be at peace,” Kerry said in a speech that lasted more than an hour.

While the Obama administration’s relationship with Israel has deteriorated, the rift appears to have brought Israeli leaders and the incoming U.S. president closer together.

Israeli leaders have made no secret that they are counting on President-elect Donald Trump to change U.S. policy toward Israel. And the president-elect urged Israel in a tweet today to “stay strong” until Inauguration Day.

Prior to Kerry’s speech Netanyahu tweeted, “President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel!”

The Israeli government was angered by the U.S. abstention from voting on last week’s UN Security Council resolution that called Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem a violation of international law. A U.S. vote against the resolution would have vetoed it. Netanyahu accused the United States of colluding with the Palestinians and helping draft the resolution.

But Kerry insisted the United States “did not draft or originate” the resolution. “The vote in the United Nations was about preserving the two-state solution. That’s what we were standing up for,” Kerry said.

Pushing back on Israel’s anger at the U.S. abstention, Kerry questioned Netanyahu’s commitment to Palestinian statehood. Though Netanyahu says he believes in the two-state solution, Kerry said, the government he leads is “the most right-wing in Israel’s history.”

“The settler agenda is defining the future of Israel. And their stated purpose is clear: They believe in one state,” Kerry said.

Kerry said a future peace deal would have to ensure secure borders for Israel and a Palestinian state formed in territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, with “mutually agreed, equivalent swaps.” He said both countries must fully recognize each other, ensure access to religious sites, and relinquish all other existing claims. Kerry also called for assistance to help Palestinian refugees.

Netanyahu, in a late night news conference Wednesday, said he would not be swayed by Kerry’s “mistaken policy,” adding that Kerry’s proposals could cause “big, big damage” to Israel. He said Kerry’s speech was a “great disappointment” and criticized Kerry for being critical of Israel at a time when the region is “going up in flames.”

“For a full hour, the secretary of state attacked the only democracy in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said, accusing Kerry of focusing too much on Israeli settlements while paying little attention to Palestinian incitement and violence.

He added that Israel is committed to resolving issues with the Palestinians, but only through direct talks.

In statement Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not address the principals for peace laid out in Kerry’s speech but said he is ready to resume peace talks with Israel “within a specific time frame and on the basis of international law.” He said that would include a reference to the UN Security Council resolution passed last week.