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November 7, 2013

Kerry: Israeli Settlements "Illegitimate," No U.S. Demand for Halt 
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Secretary of State John Kerry continues a visit to Israel and the
occupied West Bank in a bid to encourage U.S.-brokered peace talks.
Kerry faced Palestinian complaints in Ramallah on Tuesday over Israel's
continued expansion of West Bank settlements. In a rare move for an
Obama administration official, Kerry said the U.S. views Israel's
settlements as "illegitimate," going beyond the normal White House
language of "not helpful." But Kerry stopped short of calling the
settlements illegal.

Secretary of State John Kerry: "Let me emphasize at this point the
position of the United States of America on the settlements is that we
consider now and have always considered the settlements to be
illegitimate. And I want to make it extremely clear that at no time did
the Palestinians in any way agree as a matter of going back to the
talks, that they somehow condone or accept the settlements. The
Palestinians believe that the settlements are illegal, the United States
has said that the settlements are not helpful and they are
illegitimate."

Despite calling the settlements "illegitimate," Kerry refused to demand
an end to their construction, saying Israeli expansion "would be much
better off limited as much as possible."

 

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