Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
British leader blasts Kerry’s speech on Israel
After the State Department criticized the Israeli government this week, Prime Minister Theresa May broke with the U.S., saying the attack on an ally was inappropriate.
BRUSSELS — British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned a blunt speech this week by Secretary of State John Kerry on the state of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, an unusual move that boosted Britain’s relations with the incoming Trump administration at the expense of President Barack Obama.
The rare diplomatic spat between Britain and the United States, which was met with surprise by the State Department, highlighted the fast-collapsing influence of the lame-duck White House.
It also pointed to a vast reordering of international affairs expected after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in three weeks, as U.S. allies position themselves to curry favor in the new order.
The transatlantic split was unexpected given that May’s government acted as a key broker between U.S. and Palestinian interests ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote last week to declare Israeli settlement construction “illegal.” British diplomats worked as go-betweens in shaping the measure to ensure that the language was acceptable to the United States, Britain’s Guardian and Israel’s Haaretz newspapers reported this week.
Kerry on Wednesday offered a harsh assessment of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that “his current coalition is the most right wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by its most extreme elements.”
He criticized persistent Israel settlement expansion on the West Bank as a threat to the “two-state solution” under which Israel and a new Palestinian state would coexist side by side.
May’s office retorted that “we do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally.”
It said in an emailed statement late Thursday that “we are also clear that the settlements are far from the only problem in this conflict. 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.”
The move was an olive branch both to Netanyahu and to Trump, who railed against the Obama administration’s decision to abstain from a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the settlements and who has urged Israel to “stay strong” until he assumes office Jan. 20.
Trump has expressed near-unconditional support for actions by the Israeli government, breaking with long-standing U.S. policy that has sought a middle ground between the two sides.
Kerry’s speech and the U.S. abstention in the Security Council vote were received warmly by Germany and France, among other European nations, which led to a stunned reaction in Washington to the message from May’s office.
“We are surprised by the U.K. Prime Minister’s office statement given that Secretary Kerry’s remarks — which covered the full range of threats to a twostate solution, including terrorism, violence, incitement and settlements — were in line with the U.K.’s own long-standing policy and its vote at the United Nations last week,” the State Department said in a statement.
British leaders have publicly embraced Trump since his victory last month, despite his urging that Nigel Farage, a lead campaigner for Britain’s exit from the European Union and a thorn in the side of the British government, be named British ambassador to Washington.
Britain, which is preparing to negotiate the terms of a messy exit from the EU, is hoping that a strong economic relationship with the United States will help smooth out the disruptions.
This week, Britain’s ambassador in Washington, Kim Darroch, expressed hope that Trump and May would build “on the legacy of previous leaders such as President Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.”
The Australian government also distanced itself Friday from the Obama administration’s stance on settlements and the U.N. resolution.
Australia supports negotiations leading to two independent states, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
But she said that Australia — which is not a member of the Security Council where the vote was taken — did not support the U.N. resolution condemning settlements.