Biden: U.S feels 'overwhelming frustration' with Israeli government

Washington, (IINA) - U.S Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged an "overwhelming frustration" on Monday with the Israeli government and said the systemic expansion of Jewish settlements was moving Israel toward a dangerous "one-state reality" and in the wrong direction, Reuters reported.
Addressing the J Street lobby group in Washington, Biden said despite disagreements with Israel over settlements or the Iran nuclear deal, the United States had an obligation to push Israel toward a 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", 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.
Biden stressed that the "steady, systematic expansion" of Jewish settlements on occupied land wanted by the Palestinians 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.
AG/IINA

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