Kerry to Israel: Why do you Want to ‘Build in a Place that will Eventually be Palestine?’

Greg Campbell, TPNN Political Analyst

On Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry escalated the Obama Administration’s policy of hostility towards Israel by criticizing their West Bank settlements and claiming that they should not seek to defend what will ultimately be Palestine eventually.

Israel is our nation’s strongest ally in the Middle East and is surrounded by neighboring nations who find their existence to be unacceptable. The conflict between Israel and Palestinian leaders goes back centuries and though the U.S. has tried to work as peacemaker over the years, the Obama Administration has remained hostile to Israel and their interests.


Tensions are rising as the Obama Administration is formulating a deal with Iran to allow them to continue enriching uranium. Though Obama and the State Department have talked tough with Syria over their possession of chemical weapons, Iran, the outspoken enemy of Israel and the U.S., have been allowed to continue to develop nuclear weapons while the U.S. looks on.

Kerry flew to Switzerland on Friday to discuss the deal that would allow Iran to continue to enrich uranium, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that allowing a deal that would continue Iran’s nuclear weapon development would a “mistake of historic proportions.”

The Secretary of State also lashed out at Israel’s government during a joint interview with Israeli and Palestinian TV. When discussing West Bank settlements, Kerry stated,

“Now, the Palestinian leadership made it absolutely clear: they believe the settlements are illegal. They object to the settlements, and they are in no way condoning the settlements, but they knew that Israel would make some announcements. They knew it. But they don’t agree with it. And they don’t support it. They disagreed with it. In fact, they said, ‘We don’t agree. We do not think you should be doing settlements.’”
“We, the United States, say the same thing,” Kerry continued. “We do not believe the settlements are legitimate. We think they’re illegitimate. And we believe that the entire peace process would in fact be easier if these settlements were not taking place.

After calling the settlement building in the West Bank “illegitimate,” Kerry went further to even claim that they should not be defending what they build in what will eventually be Palestine,

“Let me ask you something. How, if you say you’re working for peace and you want peace, and a Palestine that is a whole Palestine that belongs to the people who live there, how can you say we’re planning to build in a place that will eventually be Palestine? So it sends a message that perhaps you’re not really serious. If you announce planning, I believe it is disruptive to the process.”

While perspectives vary wildly on Israel in America, the U.S. has, historically, backed the nation that has served as a true ally in the unstable Middle East. The Obama Administration has scaled-back support for Israel at a time when they have supported despotic regimes such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.