U.S. State Department(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday defended the two-state solution, saying it’s “the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
In a final bid to strike a peace accord as the Obama administration winds down, Kerry added, “both sides must act now to preserve the possibility of peace.”
“Friends need to tell each other the hard truths. Friendships require mutual respect,” Kerry said in remarks at the Department of State, seemingly directing his comments toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Also referencing the recent U.N. vote condemning Israeli settlements, for which the United States abstained, Kerry said, “The vote in the United Nations was about preserving the two-state solution. That’s what we were standing up for, Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state. … That’s what we are trying to preserve, for our sake and for theirs.”
“Here is a fundamental reality: If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or Democratic. It can never be both,” he said.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
