Kerry to offer 11th-hour vision of Israel-Palestinian peace

PanARMENIAN.Net - With fewer than four weeks left in office, US Secretary of State John Kerry will on Wednesday, December 28 lay out a vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, AFP says.

The goal of a two-state solution, with Israel and a future Palestine living side-by-side within agreed borders has eluded generations of US diplomats.

But in the final days of President Barack Obama's administration, and with Israel's government openly hostile to outside pressure, Kerry wants to leave his mark.

"He feels it's his duty in his waning weeks and days as secretary to lay out what he believes is a way towards a peaceful two-state solution," his spokesman said.

"It's always important to try to keep the process moving forward, to lay out constructive visions for the future," spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

Negotiations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's administration are already a dead letter.

And if Kerry wants the sides to pay attention to his "comprehensive vision" of a settlement, he faces two stark challenges that even his ill-fated predecessors did not.

Firstly, Netanyahu is already in a towering fury over Obama's decision last week not to veto a UN Security Council motion to condemn Israeli settlement building.

Secondly, incoming US leader Donald Trump has signaled he will take a much softer line, nominating an ambassador who wants to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

Arab leaders warn such a move would provoke a regional diplomatic backlash and Palestinian protests, and Netanyahu has no incentive to act before Trump's inauguration.