Secretary of State John Kerry laying out his vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Dec. 28, 2016. (Photo by Paul J. Richards\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In lengthy remarks from the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Kerry said peace must provide for secure and recognized borders based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed land swaps and a contiguous state for the Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Other principles included the fulfillment of U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181, which called for two state for two peoples; a fair and \u201crealistic\u201d solution to the Palestinian refugee problem that did not \u201caffect the fundamental character of Israel\u201d; shared capitals in Jerusalem that ensured free access to holy sites and no redivision of the city; Israeli security guarantees along\u00a0with an end to the occupation; and a final end to the conflict and all outstanding claims along with the establishment of normalized relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians,\u201d Kerry said. \u201cIt is the only way to ensure Israel\u2019s future as a Jewish and democratic state living in peace and security with its neighbors. It is the only way to ensure a future of freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people, and it is an important way of advancing United States interests in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerry\u2019s speech came with just weeks left in the Obama administration and in the wake of a controversial U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements that the United States declined to veto, prompting unusually harsh criticism from Israeli officials. The speech included a firm\u00a0defense of the U.S. abstention, which Kerry described as motivated by mounting American concern that the two-state solution was growing ever more imperiled by Israeli settlement activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite our best efforts over the years, the two-state solution is now in serious jeopardy,\u201d Kerry said. \u201cThe truth is that trends on the ground \u2014 violence, terrorism, incitement, settlement expansion and the seemingly endless occupation \u2014 are combining to destroy hopes for peace on both sides and increasingly cementing an irreversible one-state reality that most people do not actually want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking directly to Israeli criticism of the U.S. abstention, Kerry said, \u201cIt is not this resolution that is isolating Israel, it is the pernicious policy of settlement construction that is making peace impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerry dwelled at length on Israeli settlement policy in the West Bank, charging leaders of the settlement movement with \u201cpurposefully accelerating\u201d trends that will make a two-state solution impossible. Kerry noted that the Israeli settler population has grown by 270,000\u00a0since Obama took office in 2009 and he\u00a0lamented the reversal of trends toward greater Palestinian control initiated with the 1993 Oslo Accords.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution, but his current coalition is the most right-wing in Israel\u2019s history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements,\u201d Kerry said. \u201cPolicies of this government, which the prime minister just described as more committed to settlements than any in Israel\u2019s history, are leading in the opposite direction. They\u2019re leading to one state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerry also had harsh words for the Palestinians, condemning their incitement to violence and glorification of terrorists, and he slammed the attempt to isolate and delegitimize Israel in the United Nations and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe murders of innocents are still glorified on Fatah websites,\u201d Kerry said, referring to the political faction headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. \u201cDespite statements by President Abbas, too often they send a different message by failing to condemn specific attacks and by naming public squares, streets and schools after terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Kerry\u00a0reserved the bulk of criticism for Israeli settlements, portraying them as obstacles to peace and counter to Israeli interests, even as he acknowledged that they are neither the sole nor the prime reason the conflict endures. Kerry also lashed out at recent Israeli legislation aimed at legalizing settler outposts built deep in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
In the face of intense criticism from Israeli leaders and some pro-Israel voices in the United States, Kerry\u00a0also emphasized the abiding American support for Israeli security going back decades and reiterated\u00a0Obama\u2019s pro-Israel bona fides,\u00a0noting the unprecedented American military assistance for Israel and the administration\u2019s\u00a0opposition to attempts to isolate Israel in international forums.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis administration has been Israel\u2019s greatest friend and supporter,\u201d Kerry said. \u201cNo American administration has done more for Israel\u2019s security than Barack Obama\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
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