US Secretary of State John Kerry today staunchly defended the Obama administration's decision to allow the UN Security Council to declare Israeli settlements illegal. <br/><br/>He also warned that Israel's very future as a democracy is at stake. Mr. Kerry, pushing back on Israel's fury at the US abstention of the United Nations vote, questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's true commitment to Palestinian statehood, which has formed the basis for all serious peace talks for years.<br/><br/> Mr Kerry said, if the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic, it cannot be both, and it won't ever really be at peace.<br/><br/>The extraordinary display of discord between allies with US and Israeli officials openly disparaging each other has also pitted President Barack Obama against President-elect Donald Trump, who has firmly taken Netanyahu's side.<br/><br/>Israel's government was enraged after the US abstained from voting on the UN Security Council resolution last week that called Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem a violation of international law.<br/>

Kerry defends Obama's UN vote to declare Israeli settlements illegal<br/><br/>US Secretary of State John Kerry today staunchly defended the Obama administration's decision to allow the UN Security Council to declare Israeli settlements illegal. <br/><br/>He also warned that Israel's very future as a democracy is at stake. Mr. Kerry, pushing back on Israel's fury at the US abstention of the United Nations vote, questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's true commitment to Palestinian statehood, which has formed the basis for all serious peace talks for years.<br/><br/> Mr Kerry said, if the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic, it cannot be both, and it won't ever really be at peace.<br/><br/>The extraordinary display of discord between allies with US and Israeli officials openly disparaging each other has also pitted President Barack Obama against President-elect Donald Trump, who has firmly taken Netanyahu's side.<br/><br/>Israel's government was enraged after the US abstained from voting on the UN Security Council resolution last week that called Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem a violation of international law.<br/>