US Vice President criticises Israeli settlement expansion

 US Vice President, Joe Biden, on Monday criticised the policies recently pursued by the Israeli government, saying that some of the decisions made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu push Israel in the wrong direction.

Addressing Jewish lobbying group J Street in Washington, Biden said that a number of decisions that were made by the Israeli government, especially the policy of the expansion of settlements, are moving Israel towards a one-state solution, which “is a wrong direction.”

Latest settlement negotiations between the PA and the Israeli occupation were stopped in the first half of 2014, after nine months of talks under the US auspices had led to no progress in the two-state solution.

“Being a supporter of a two-state solution, the United States is held responsible for putting pressure on the Israeli government to pursue the path of peace in order to reach a solution for the Palestinian-Israeli issue,” Biden pointed out.

He said that his recent visit to the region, during which he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, did not give him hope, expressing his belief that “there is no political desire on both sides to start real negotiations.”