US Secretary of State John Kerry will offer a “comprehensive vision” of how to revive the so-called peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis in a major speech on Wednesday.
President Barack Obama’s administration, including Kerry, is to leave office in four weeks, amid rift between Tel Aviv and Washington after the latter did not veto a critical UN resolution that condemns the Zionist entity over illegal settlements.
But US officials said they plan to keep pushing both the Zionist entity and the Palestinian Authority to take concrete steps to revive talks on the so-called two-state solution to the conflict.
Toner said Kerry believes “it is his duty in his remaining weeks and days as secretary of state to lay out what he believes is a way towards a two-state solution.”
“It’s always important to keep the process moving forward,” Toner said. “We haven’t given up on this and we don’t think the Israelis and Palestinians should do either.”
Officials said Kerry would make the speech to an invited audience, including the Washington diplomatic corps, at the State Department.
On Friday, in a historic move, the United States failed to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning its ally building of settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government reacted with fury and accused Obama of working behind the scenes to betray them.
US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, has signaled he will take a softer line on Israeli settlement building by promising to move the US embassy to al-Quds (Jerusalem).
He has also nominated as US ambassador to the Zionist entity an American Jewish lawyer known as a strong supporter of the settlement movement.
Source: AFP
