Kerry lambasts Israeli ministers who oppose Palestinian statehood

US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday launched an attack on Israeli ministers who oppose Palestinian statehood, as well as criticising the ongoing settlement expansion.

Speaking at the Saban Forum, an annual gathering of senior Israeli and US policymakers, Kerry noted how “more than 50 per cent of the ministers in the current [Israeli] government have publicly stated they are opposed to a Palestinian state and that there will be no Palestinian state.”

He claimed that Israeli settlement construction is a deliberate obstacle to peace, and warned that such expansion was undermining any hope of a two-state solution.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which described Kerry’s criticism as “unprecedented and harsh”, reported that the senior US official said Israel is “ignoring all our warnings regarding settlements”.