British Prime Minister Theresa May scolded Secretary of State John Kerry for criticizing the “far right” government of Israel and focusing so much on Israeli settlements in his Middle East peace speech earlier this week.
“We do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally,” the British PM’s office said in a statement that surprised the State Department.
“We are also clear that the settlements are far from the only problem in this conflict. In particular, the people of Israel deserve to live free from the threat of terrorism, with which they have had to cope for too long,” May’s office added.
Kerry used much of his 73-minute address to decry Israeli settlements as an obstacle to peace.
He also went after the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution, but his current coalition is the most right-wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by its most extreme elements,” Kerry said.
The State Department said it was taken aback by May’s comments.
“We are surprised by the UK prime minister’s statement given that Secretary Kerry’s remarks … were in-line with the UK’s own longstanding policy and its vote at the United Nations last week,” the State Department told Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
The UK isn’t the only ally of the US to express displeasure with the Obama regime, which will be replaced by the Trump administration in only three weeks.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull blasted the UN resolution condemning Israel as “deeply unsettling.”
Pledging support for the so-called two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians, Turnbull told a Sydney synagogue Friday that peace could only come through negotiations between both sides.