Article content continued

Breaking sharply from longstanding U.S. policy that foreign powers shouldn’t impose a solution, Kerry unveiled a six-part outline of what a future peace deal could look like. The outline tracked closely with principles long assumed to be part of an eventual deal, and Kerry insisted he was merely describing what’s emerged as points of general agreement.

Pushing back on Israel’s fury at the U.S. abstention in the United Nations vote, Kerry questioned Netanyahu’s commitment to Palestinian statehood, which has formed the basis for all serious peace talks for years. Though Netanyahu says he believes in the two-state solution, Kerry said, the government he leads is “the most right-wing in Israel’s history.”

“The settler agenda is defining the future of Israel. And their stated purpose is clear: They believe in one state,” Kerry said.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

While Israel’s Arab population has citizenship rights, the roughly 2.5 Palestinians living in the West Bank do not. Israel controls their ability to move, they can be subject to Israeli military law and they do not have a right to vote in Israeli elections. Instead, they are governed by the Palestinian Authority, which has only limited powers of autonomy.

Netanyahu planned to respond personally later Wednesday in a televised statement. His office issued a statement denouncing the speech, arguing it was “skewed against Israel.”

“Kerry obsessively dealt with settlements and barely touched upon the root of the conflict: Palestinian opposition to a Jewish state in any boundaries,” the prime minister’s office said.