ALLIES SHAME BAM ON ISRAEL
US went too far ‘right’ in bashing Bibi: Brit PM
WASHINGTON — Two key US allies are breaking with the Obama administration over its treatment of Israel.
British Prime Minister Theresa May scolded US Secretary of State John Kerry for criticizing Israel’s “right-wing” government and focusing so much on Israeli settlements in his Middle East peace speech earlier this week.
“We do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally,” the British PM’s office said in a statement that surprised the State Department — particularly after the UK had voted in favor of the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements.
“We are also clear that the settlements are far from the only problem in this conflict,” May’s office added. “In particular, the people of Israel deserve to live free from the threat of terrorism, with which they have had to cope for too long.”
Kerry charged in his 73-minute speech that Israeli settlements are an obstacle to peace. He also went after the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution, but his current coalition is the most right-wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by its most extreme elements,” Kerry said.
The State Department claimed to be taken aback by the British government’s comments.
“We are surprised by the UK prime minister’s statement given that Secretary Kerry’s remarks . . . were in line with the UK’s own longstanding policy and its vote at the United Nations last week,” the State Department told Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
The UK isn’t the only ally of the United States to express displeasure with the outgoing Obama administration.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull blasted the UN resolution condemning Israel — which the US declined to veto — as “deeply unsettling.”
Turnbull told a Sydney synagogue Friday that peace could only come through negotiations between both sides.
“It is not assisted by one-sided resolutions made at the councils of the United Nations or anywhere else, and that is why Australia has not, and does not, support onesided resolutions,” Turnbull said at a menorah-lighting ceremony, according to The Australian Jewish News.
“These issues can only be resolved by the State of Israel and the Palestinian community,” he added.