Bolton warns Obama against anti-Israel actions before leaving
Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has warned President Barack Obama against taking any action that could hurt Israel.
In a radio interview on Sunday, Bolton said that the outgoing US president should be careful with his decisions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“I'm particularly worried about what Obama might do with respect to Israel and the United Nations,” said Bolton. “There is a lot of speculation over in Turtle Bay at UN headquarters about resolutions that recognize a Palestinian state or that try and set a boundary for Israel based on the 1967 ceasefire lines.”
“I think that’d be very inadvisable for the president to do that,” he added.
During his farewell address at this year’s UN General Assembly, Obama drew anger from Tel Aviv by saying that Israel “cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land.”
Israeli officials also took offense at another part of Obama’s address, where he said, “Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself.”
Since 2002, Israel has been constructing a wall in the occupied Palestinian lands, separating parts of the West Bank from the rest of the territories.
Comprised mostly of eight-meter tall concrete blocks that run deep into the ground, the wall would annex 13 percent of the region, allowing Israel to construct new settlements.
The Obama administration has repeatedly opposed the expansion of the Israeli settlements, saying they run counter to the two-state solution that Washington has been promoting for years.
In his Sunday interview, Bolton, who is a top contender for President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state, warned that the remaining days of the Obama administration would pose serious challenges for the US.
“I think we're at risk that our adversaries will try and take advantage of getting the last concessions they can out of the Obama administration, as some may figure they'd better settle scores now before having to deal with Trump,” he said.
Widely seen as a hawk, even within conservative circles, Bolton is known for his extremist views on foreign policy, including his insatiable appetite for wars.
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