US Foreign Secretary John Kerry defends US inaction in UN vote on Israel.
Washington, 29 Rabiul Awwal 1438/29 December 2016 (MINA) – US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States allowed a UN resolution on Israeli settlements to pass last week in an effort to preserve the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian Territories, reported the DPA.
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“The United States did in fact vote in accordance with our values.”
Kerry made the remarks in a briefing to reporters on Wednesday, five days after a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion was allowed to pass due to the US abstaining its vote.
The US Secretary of State accused the current Israeli administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being “more committed to settlements” and being the “most right wing” in history.
The number of settlers in the close to 130 Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands, east of the 1967 borders, has “steadily grown,” he said.
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In the West Bank alone, not including East Jerusalem, this number has increased by nearly 270,000 since the Oslo Peace Accord, he said, including 100,000 since 2009, he added.
Kerry said that Israel’s “settler agenda” has focused on “cementing a one-state reality” through the “annexation” of the West Bank, adding that these actions “make it difficult” for a viable Palestinian state.
The US decision to abstain was done in order to preserve the two-state solution, which is being “destroyed,” he said, adding that many other nations hold the same view.
The US cannot be true to its values “if we allow a viable two-state solution to be destroyed before our own eyes.” he said. (T/RS05/RS01)
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