With his tenure as Secretary of State rapidly pulling to a close, John Kerry made an impassioned defense for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Wednesday.
Kerry said he is concerned that some Israeli politicians are rejecting it.
"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," said Kerry.
Speaking at the State Department, Kerry sharply criticized the Israeli government's construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. He claimed the policy was dimming the prospect of peace. In the more than hour-long address, Kerry also defended the U.S.'s refusal to block a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements. The resolution led to fierce accusations that the Obama administration had turned against Israel.
"Friends need to tell each other the hard truths, and friendships require mutual respect," Kerry said.
The outgoing Secretary of State also shut down accusations that the U.S. had engineered the U.N. resolution — a theory espoused by Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a speech shortly thereafter, the prime minister called Kerry's speech "a great disappointment."
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