Kerry on Israel: An alternate universe

He did exactly that, but at the cost of whatever relevance the speech might have had left, because the world he painted has very little in common with the one we live in. He couldn’t even craft a single version where everything fell into place, but had to leap from one alternate reality to another. Those who work on the Middle East as it actually exists don’t have anything in the speech for them.

To address concerns that UNSCR 2334 blew apart the peace process, Kerry described it as in line with past Middle East-related resolutions. That version might have been a legitimate diplomatic achievement. But it’s not the real Resolution 2334.

The real Resolution 2334 describes all of East Jerusalem and the West Bank as occupied Palestinian territory. Nonetheless Kerry said that a previous resolution built to avoid exactly that conclusion, Resolution 242, was still “enshrined in international law… and remains the basis for an agreement today.” Even the text of the new resolution had settled for only a perfunctory throat-clearing reference to 242, “reaffirming” it in opening line far above the operative part of the text.

The real Resolution 2334 calls for a Palestinian state but not a Jewish state. Nonetheless Kerry said that a previous resolution, which calls for both, Resolution 181, was still “fundamental… [and] incorporated into the foundational documents of both the Israelis and Palestinians.”