‘Lecture’ leaves Israel furious
Kerry’s speech causes Trump, Netanyahu to lash out at Obama
John Kerry, the outgoing U.S. secretary of state, issued a desperate final warning Wednesday that settlement-building policies being carried out by Israel’s government were destroying hopes for peace, just hours after Donald Trump promised to reverse American policy toward Israel.
Kerry used one of his last major speeches to say the “most extreme elements” of Israel’s right wing were shaping the country’s future and strangling the prospect of a twostate solution.
“The settler agenda is defining the future of Israel and their stated purpose is clear: They believe in one state,” Kerry said. “We cannot, in good conscience, do nothing, and say nothing, when we see the hope of peace slipping away. This is a time to stand up for what is right.”
But before he even began his 71-minute speech, he was contradicted by tweets from president-elect Trump, who accused the Obama administration of showing “total disdain and disrespect” for Israel.
“Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!” he added, referring to the day he will replace Barack Obama as United States president.
“We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the US, but not anymore,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Kerry’s speech also drew a furious reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the U.S. diplomat focused “obsessively” on Jewish settlements and “barely touched” on Palestinian opposition to a Jewish state in any form.
“Maybe Kerry hasn’t noticed that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christmas can be celebrated safely and peacefully,” Netanyahu said. “The entire Middle East is in flames, entire countries are collapsing, terrorism is rampant, and for an entire hour the secretary of state attacks the only democracy in the Middle East.”
He added, “Israel does not need to be lectured about peace by foreign leaders.”
The unprecedented public clash pitting the outgoing American administration against the incoming administration and the Israeli government came days after the U.S. allowed a resolution criticizing Israeli settlements to pass the UN Security Council.
And it came as Trump accused Obama of derailing a smooth transition with “inflammatory” statements and “roadblocks” in an unprecedented personal condemnation of a soon-to-be predecessor.
Trump and Obama have tried to bury political differences in favour of a united public front that would smooth the transfer of power.
But tensions have come to the fore in recent days, with Obama recently suggesting he could have won a third term in office if he had been able to run.
Kerry spent months trying to negotiate a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians in 2013-14 but has since become an increasingly vocal critic of Israeli building in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
“No one thinking seriously about peace can ignore the reality of what the settlements pose to that peace,” he said.
Kerry said a two-state solution “is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state.” However, he said it “is now in serious jeopardy.”
Kerry acknowledged “that a speech alone won’t produce peace” but said he hoped his words would serve as a warning that time was running out for a two-state solution.
He also suggested a series of principles for a future peace deal, including dividing Jerusalem so it could serve as a capital for both Israel and Palestine, compensating the descendants of Palestinian refugees who fled their homes in 1948, and ensuring Israel’s security.
“Some seem to believe that the U.S. friendship means that the U.S. must accept any policy … even after urging again and again that the policy must change,” Kerry said. But “friends need to tell each other the hard truths.”
He said the U.S. “has done more to support Israel than any other country,” and noted the Obama administration made unprecedented contributions in both military intelligence and financial aid to Israel. But Kerry said Washington would have betrayed its own values if it did not try to revive a two-state solution.
He said Palestinians need to do more to end incitements to violence against Israelis. But he devoted more time to criticizing Israeli policies and the rhetoric of Israeli government ministers.
Netanyahu said, “Like the Security Council resolution that Secretary Kerry advanced in the UN, his speech tonight was skewed against Israel. For over an hour, Kerry obsessively dealt with settlements and barely touched upon the root of the conflict — Palestinian opposition to a Jewish state in any boundaries.”
The Israeli prime minister appears to have taken heart from Trump’s words of encouragement.
“President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel!” he tweeted in response to one of the president-elect’s tweets, tagging Trump and his daughter, Ivanka.
Trump signalled he does not share the Obama administration’s concerns and intends to support Netanyahu’s pro-settler government.
His nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel is a right-wing lawyer who opposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state and has raised money for Jewish settlements. — Daily Telegraph, with files from
the Washington Post