United States State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said during a briefing on Monday that Israeli sanctions on the Palestinians would "only serve to increase tensions."
Israel placed sanctions on the Palestinian Authority following the PA-initiated vote at the UN General Assembly asking the International Court of Justice to seek an opinion on the Israeli occupation.
Price said that the U.S. has been "consistent in (its) own strong opposition to the request for an ICJ advisory opinion concerning Israel," calling the move "counterproductive."
"(It) will only take the parties further away from the objective of a negotiated two-state solution," Price continued. When asked whether he would urge the Israelis to release money held - a percentage of the tax revenue it collected last year on behalf of the PA to offset stipends paid to terrorists - Price stated that "unilateral actions that threaten the viability of a two-state solution."
Price also noted that Israel and the United States were both committed to the fact that Iran must never be able to acquire a nuclear weapon, saying, "we are in lockstep when it comes to that strategic goal."
Price spoke of the Negev Forum that occurred in March of last year in Israel's Sde Boker: "We’ve... been clear this process is not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace.”
“We support the normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab and Muslim-majority neighbors and countries around the world, but it’s not a substitute."
Story reprinted with the permission of i24NEWS