British Prime Minister rebukes US Secretary of State Kerry, over Israel statements

A spokesperson for the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, issued a strongly worded rebuke to the US, Thursday, regarding the issue of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and the American response to it.

At a Downing Street briefing the spokesperson outlined to press the differences between Mrs May’s view of the Israeli-Palestine conflict and the position outlined by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in a speech on Wednesday, according to media reports.

The spokesperson maligned Kerry’s speech as too focused on settlements and criticised Mr Kerry’s description of the composition of the Israeli government as the “most Right-wing in history”.

Watch John Kerry’s full speech

According to media reports Mrs May’s spokesman stated:

We do not… believe that the way to negotiate peace is by focusing on only one issue, in this case the construction of settlements, when clearly the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is so deeply complex …

and we do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally. The Government believes that negotiations will only succeed when they are conducted between the two parties, supported by the international community.

Mr Kerry’s speech on Wednesday came in the aftermath of the passing of a resolution at the UN Security Council that harshly criticised Israel for building illegal, Jewish-only, settlements on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, which the US elected not to veto and the UK (along with every other member of the security council) voted for.

Netanyahu 'snubs Theresa May' over UK's role in UN settlements vote https://t.co/4ew8boSV87

— The Independent (@Independent) December 26, 2016

Since then the response by both Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu and incoming president-elect Donald Trump has been a blistering defence of Israel, including a series of diplomatic snubs by the former and inflammatory tweets by the later.

not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016

Further media reports suggest that a planned forthcoming meeting between Netanyahu and May has been cancelled as a direct response the UK’s vote and against the backdrop of rumours that the UK delegation at the UN had been intimately involved in crafting the resolution behind the scenes.

UK officials say they were behind UN settlements vote — report https://t.co/25XEauQ6B7

— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) December 29, 2016

The spokesperson went on to explain the UK’s position:

The British Government continues to believe that the only way to a lasting peace in the Middle East is through a two-state solution. We continue to believe that the construction of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is illegal.

While, in comments to The Telegraph, a spokesperson for the US State Department described American surprise at Mrs May’s response:

We are surprised by the UK Prime Minister’s statement given that Secretary Kerry’s remarks – which covered the full range of threats to a two state solution, including terrorism, violence, incitement and settlements – were in-line with the UK’s own longstanding policy and its vote at the United Nations last week.

It is generally understood that Mrs May hopes to promote a favourable relationship between the UK and the incoming Trump administration, particularly in the context of “seismic” changes in the World order during 2016, as the current UK ambassador to Washington recently outlined in a newspaper article.

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