John Kerry slams Israeli settlements

US Secretary of State John Kerry has criticised Israel for settlement-building, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging Jerusalem away from democracy. In a farewell speech at Washington, Mr Kerry said, he has laid out a vision for peace that he won't be in office to implement, but that the US hoped might be heeded even after President Barack Obama leaves office. Mr Kerry unveiled a six-part outline of a possible future peace deal. He defended the Obama administration's decision to allow the United Nations Security Council to declare Israeli settlements illegal. Mr Kerry said, 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.

Earlier, US President-elect Donald Trump tweeted in support of Israel saying



he would not allow it to be treated with disdain and disrespect. He urged Israel to stay strong until he assumed office next month.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the speech by John Kerry terming it as biased. He said, Mr Kerry obsessively dealt with settlements and barely touched upon the root of the conflict, that is Palestinian opposition to a Jewish state in any boundaries.

Reacting to Mr Kerry's address, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said he was ready to resume peace efforts with Israel if it stopped settlement building.The international community overwhelmingly opposes Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and claimed by the Palestinians for an independent state.