Advertisement

  1. National

Theresa May criticises Obama administration's Israeli stance

Prime Minister Theresa May has distanced herself from US President Barack Obama's stance on Israel and condemned the attack by his secretary of state on the Israeli government.

Downing Street said it was "not appropriate" for John Kerry to brand Benjamin Netanyahu's administration as the "most right wing in history", which saw him accused of bias by the Israeli prime minister.

Kerry made the claim while accusing Netanyahu's government of undermining attempts at a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians by building settlements in the West Bank.

View all 24 updates ›

Kerry: 'US rejects criticism of its vote on Israeli settlement'

Kerry said the US rejected criticism of its vote Credit: Pool

The US has rejected criticism of its decision not to veto a UN resolution demanding the stop of Israeli settlement building.

Secretary of State John Kerry said that if the US had vetoed the resolution then it would have given tacit approval to Israel to continue so-called illegal settling.

"If we had vetoed this resolution, just the other day, the United States would have been giving licence to further unfettered settlement construction that we fundamentally oppose," Kerry said.

"So we reject the criticism that this vote abandons Israel."

He added: "On the contrary, it is not this resolution that is isolating Israel. It is the permanent policy of settlement construction that risks making peace impossible."

Kerry said that "virtually every country" except for Israel opposes further settlement.

"virtually every country" except for Israel opposes settlement.

  1. Read more
  2. 24 updates
Theresa May criticises Obama administration's Israeli stance

More on this story