Pushing back on Israel, Kerry defends Obama's UN vote

December 28, 2016 23:44

Stepping into a raging diplomatic argument, Secretary of State John Kerry today staunchly defended the Obama administration's decision to allow the UN Security Council to declare Israeli settlements illegal and warned that Israel's very future as a democracy is at stake.

Kerry, pushing back on Israel's fury at the US abstention of the United Nations vote, questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's true commitment to Palestinian statehood, which has formed the basis for all serious peace talks for years.

Though Netanyahu says he believes in the two-state solution, Kerry said, he's at the helm of the most right-wing (government) in Israel's history.

"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.

Kerry's speech marked the latest escalation in a vicious, drama-filled row between the US and Israel that has erupted in the last days of Obama's administration.

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