Kerry rebukes Israel over settlements

Netanyahu eager for expected shift in U.S. policy under Trump.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry tore into Israel on Wednesday for continuing to build settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging Israel away from democracy and forcefully rejecting the notion that America had abandoned Israel with a controversial U.N. vote.

Netanyahu responded by accusing the Obama administration of a biased bid to blame Israel for failure to reach a peace deal.

In a farewell speech, Kerry reiterated the long-held goal of cementing peace between Israel and the Palestinians with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. He defended President Barack Obama’s move last week to allow the U.N. Security Council to declare illegal the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian-claimed areas — the spark that set off an extraordinary and

deepening diplomatic spat between the U.S. and its closest Mideast ally.

“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 comprehensive airing of grievances that have built up in the Obama administration over eight years but were rarely, until this month, discussed publicly.

Netanyahu pushed back in a hastily arranged televised statement in which he suggested he was done with the Obama administration and ready to deal with President-elect Donald Trump, who has sided squarely with Israel. Netanyahu faulted Kerry for obsessing over settlements while paying mere “lip service” to Palestinian attacks and incitement of violence.

“Israelis do not need to be lectured about the importance of peace by foreign leaders,” Netanyahu said.

The dueling recriminations marked a low point for U.S.-Israel relations, which have steadily worsened as Obama and Netanyahu quarreled over the settlements, the peace process and Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

Trump, who has assured Israel it merely needs to “hang on” until he takes over, told reporters that Kerry’s speech spoke for itself. It was unclear whether Israel came up in a phone call that Obama, vacationing in Hawaii, placed to Trump on Wednesday morning.

Nor was it clear what impact Kerry’s speech, coming in the final days of the administration, might have.

Netanyahu expressed concern that a French-hosted summit next month could lead to an international framework that the U.N. Security Council might then codify with Obama’s assent, boxing Israel in. Yet Kerry seemed to rule out the possibility Obama would take more parting shots, such as endorsing a U.N. move to recognize Palestinian statehood.

The diplomatic fracas erupted last week when the U.S., in a departure from past policy, decided to abstain rather than veto a U.N. Security Council resolution calling Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem a violation of international law. Israel was incensed, and on Wednesday, Netanyahu claimed Israel has “absolute, indispensable evidence” the U.S. actually spearheaded the resolution.

Netanyahu offered what he called proof of U.S. collusion: a document, leaked to an Egyptian newspaper, that purports to be a Palestinian account of a December meeting between top U.S. and Palestinian officials. White House spokesman Ned Price called it a “total fabrication” and added: “This meeting never occurred.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded to Kerry’s speech by reaffirming that he’s ready to resume peace talks if Israel halts settlement construction.

Kerry, unveiling a six-part outline of what a future peace deal could look like, deviated from the traditional U.S. message that foreign powers shouldn’t impose a solution. His outline tracked closely with principles long assumed to be part of an eventual deal, and he insisted he was merely describing what have emerged as points of general agreement.

Though Kerry faulted Palestinian leaders for insufficiently condemning violence and terrorism against Israelis, most of his speech focused on Israel. He said the two-state solution, the basis for all serious peace talks for years, was “now in serious jeopardy,” and called Netanyahu’s’ government “the most right-wing in Israel’s history.”

He invoked the widespread concern that the growing Arab population in Israel and the Palestinian territories will eventually make Jews a minority in Israel, creating a demographic crisis for Israel unless there is a separate Palestinian state.

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

Secretary of State John Kerry unveiled an outline for peace.