Calling it an attempt to bring the US Domestic agenda to the UN, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected John Kerry’s proposal to impose a Middle East solution on Israel in a telephone conversation Tuesday, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. According to Russia’s Tass news service:

“The two top diplomats exchanged views on the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and around it. Lavrov stressed the necessity of creating conditions for direct talks between the leaders of Israel and Palestine and warned against bringing US’ domestic agenda into the work of the Middle East Quartet and the United Nations Security Council. He stressed that attempts to use these formats in bickering between the Democrats and Republicans are harmful,” the Russian foreign ministry said.

It is a bit strange that Russia is protecting the Jewish State from anti-Israel actions by the American president and secretary of state.

The Russian foreign minister’s statement echoed the fears raised at Lidblog yesterday that Obama/Kerry will make additional attempts to cut Israel’s negotiating position and/or impose an unfavorable solution on the Jewish State before Donald Trump becomes president on January 20.

Kerry plans to deliver his speech at the State Department in Washington at 11AM EST.  Senior State Department officials told the New York Times that Kerry will present the administration’s plan for a final solution to the Israeli/Arab conflict.  The Times says that Kerry’s speech  will deal with questions like where to draw the borders of a future Palestinian state, which security arrangements need to be part of the permanent agreement, what Jerusalem’s status should be, and mutual recognition of Israeli and Palestinian states.

Kerry is also expected to push back at Israel’s claims that last weeks UNSC resolution was planned by Kerry, despite Egyptian evidence that the claim is true.“ Kerry is also expected to claim will stress that the American move in the Security Council was not unprecedented and that the decision not to veto the resolution “did not blind side Israel.”

I doubt highly that he’ll mention that no other administration allowed a resolution to be passed claiming that the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem was Palestinian, and that all settlements are illegal.

He is also expected to stress in his speech that besides Israel’s position, there is “complete international consensus” against settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. In other words, it is a continuation of the Obama adminstration’s foreign policy failed strategy–instead of doing the right thing for America and her allies, Kerry/Obama make their decisions based on what everyone else thinks.

My Mom, of blessed memory used to say, “If everyone jumped of the Empire State building, would you?” Apparently President Obama and John Kerry would take that leap.

This will not stop Obama/Kerry from taking some other punitive action against Israel and her ability to negotiate a solution with the Palestinians such as “recognizing” the non-existent Palestinian state.