By Daniella Diaz
WASHINGTON — (CNN) The Obama administration would veto any UN resolution that dictated a peace solution or recognized a Palestinian state, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said Wednesday.
Rhodes was speaking hours after Secretary of State John Kerry strongly criticized Israel’s decision to build settlements in the West Bank, saying it was ruining the prospect of a Palestinian state.
“So just to be clear here, when (Kerry) says, ‘These are not the choices we will make,’ which is kind of vague, is he saying that the US would veto any resolution in the UN which might dictate a peace solution or might recognize a Palestinian state?” CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Rhodes on “The Lead.”
“Yes,” Rhodes responded. “We’ve made that clear over and over, Jake.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Kerry warned that a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict is “now in serious jeopardy.” He also defended the US decision last week to abstain from a vote on a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israelis are worried about a UN resolution recognizing a Palestinian state or codifying a peace process that the US would allow. He’s also said the US was behind last week’s UN resolution, an accusation Rhodes called a “distraction” on Wednesday.
“We own the fact that we abstained from this resolution because we believe that was the right thing,” Rhodes said. “I think it is the Israeli government that is trying to have this distraction from the real debate.”
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