Biden Acknowledges ’Overwhelming Frustration’ with ’Israel’

Local Editor

US Vice President Joe Biden on Monday acknowledged "overwhelming frustration" with the "Israeli" apartheid regime and said the systemic expansion of illegal settlements was moving the "Israeli" entity toward a dangerous "one-state" solution and to the wrong direction.

Addressing J Street's annual gala, Biden said despite disagreements with the "Israeli" entity over settlements or the Iran nuclear deal, the United States had an obligation to push "Israel" toward a so-called two-state solution to end the conflict between "Israelis" and Palestinians.

"We have an overwhelming obligation, notwithstanding our sometimes overwhelming frustration with the "Israeli" government, to push them as hard as we can toward what they know in their gut is the only ultimate solution, a two-state solution, while at the same time be an absolute guarantor of their security," Biden said.

Biden said his recent meetings with "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas left him discouraged over the prospects for peace at present.

"There is at the moment no political will that I observed among "Israelis" or Palestinians to move forward with serious negotiations," Biden said, "The trust that is necessary to take risks for peace is fractured on both sides." He said both Palestinians and "Israelis" needed to tamp down rhetoric that fueled violence and actions that undermined confidence in negotiations.

For Israel's part, Biden said the "steady, systematic expansion" of illegal settlements on the occupied Palestinian land moved "Israel in the wrong direction."

"They are moving toward a one-state reality and that reality is dangerous," Biden said, warning that moving in that direction would mean an endless cycle of conflict and retribution.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry echoed Biden's remarks, also addressing J Street's gala. "We will continue to try to advance a two-state solution..."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team