VOA慢速英语2016 以色列——美国关系在定居问题上继续发展（在线收听）

The United States and Israel have exchanged criticism over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

美国和以色列就以色列人在约旦河西岸定居问题互相指责。

On December 23, the Obama administration allowed the United Nations to pass a resolution that declared Israel’s growing settlements in the occupied territories illegal. Until that vote, the Obama administration had blocked resolutions criticizing Israel by using its veto power in the UN Security Council.

12月23日，奥巴马政府同意联合国通过一项解决方案，该方案称以色列越来越多的人在占领地区定居是违法的。而在此次投票之前，奥巴马政府曾在联合国安理会用自己的否决权阻止了谴责以色列的决议。

Days later, on December 28, Obama’s secretary of state, John Kerry, gave a speech in support of what is known as a two-state solution for the area.

几天后，12月28日，奥巴马政府的国务卿约翰·克里发表演讲，称支持该区域的两国并存解决方案。

Kerry started the speech by saying the U.S. remains committed to Israel’s security.He criticized Palestinian leaders for not doing more to stop terrorist attacks on Israel.

演讲开始时，克里称美国仍旧关注以色列的安全问题。 他谴责巴勒斯坦领导人在阻止以色列恐怖袭击方面没有进一步的行动。

But he said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had supported a policy on the settlements “driven by the most extreme elements in his country.”By settlements, Kerry meant Israeli efforts to build new housing in the West Bank.Israeli leaders say religious history and security concerns justify the housing.

但他表示，本杰明·内塔尼亚胡总理曾扶持过一项有关定居问题的政策。而这些问题当时是“迫于国内最极端的一些因素”。克里提到的定居，指的是以色列人在约旦河西岸修建新房屋。 以色列领导人称出于对宗教历史和安全问题的考虑，修建房屋正当合理。

Palestinian leaders and many world leaders consider Israel’s West Bank developments as a barrier to a peace deal.Such a deal would give the Palestinians their own state in exchange for lasting peace with Israel.

巴勒斯坦和世界上许多领导人都认为以色列约旦河西岸的发展是签署和平协议的一大障碍。这一协议可以保证巴勒斯坦的国家完整，作为交换，以色列最终也可以与巴勒斯坦人民缔结持久的和平。

In his speech, Kerry said, “Let’s be clear: Settlement expansion has nothing to do with Israel’s security.Many settlements actually increase the security burden on the Israeli Defense Forces.”

在克里的演讲中，他说“说得更清楚一点就是，定居区域的扩大与以色列的安全毫不相关。定居者实际上是增加了以色列国防军的安保压力。”

He said the Israeli settler movement ignores the “legitimate” hopes of the Palestinian people for their own state.

他说以色列定居者的行为没有顾及到巴勒斯坦人民对于他们国家完整的“正当”期许。

Republican Donald Trump replaces Democrat Barack Obama as U.S. president on January 20.In a post on the social media site Twitter, he suggested the Obama administration’s Israeli policy will not continue.

1月20日，共和党人唐纳德·特朗普将代替民主党人巴拉克·奥巴马，担任下一届的美国总统。特朗普在社交媒体上发表了一篇推文，暗示奥巴马政府在以色列问题上的政策将不再延续。

“We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect.They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but not anymore.”He added: “January 20th is fast approaching.”

“我们不能继续这样完全轻视、不尊重以色列了。 他们以前在美国有非常好的朋友，但是以后再也没有了。”特朗普补充道：“1月20日马上就要到了。”

Trump recently named lawyer David Friedman as his U.S. ambassador to Israel.Friedman has been a strong supporter of Israel’s settlement movement.

前不久特朗普任命大卫·弗里德曼为美国驻以色列大使。弗里德曼一直以来都十分支持以色列的定居行为。

Obama and Netanyahu have not had a friendly relationship for much of Obama’s eight-year presidency. Netanyahu took the unusual step of delivering a speech critical of the U.S. president to the U.S. Congress in 2015.

奥巴马在位8年的大部分时间，美国和以色列的关系并不友好。2015年内塔尼亚胡采取非常措施，发表演讲表示对奥巴马和美国国会非常不满。

The speech criticized the nuclear deal the Obama administration and leaders of other nations were about to sign with Iran.

在演讲中，内塔尼亚胡谴责奥巴马政府和其他国家领导人将要和伊朗签订核协议的行为。

Netanyahu gave his own speech one day after Kerry’s.He was critical of Kerry and the Obama administration.

内塔尼亚胡的演讲比克里晚一天。他对克里和奥巴马政府非常不满。

“What he (Kerry) did was to spend most of his speech blaming Israel for the lack of peace by passionately condemning a policy of enabling Jews to live in their historic homeland and in their eternal capital, Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said.

“克里演讲的大部分内容都是指责以色列不爱好和平，他强烈地谴责这项政策，但这项政策却能够让犹太人居住在他们历史上的家园、他们永恒的首都——耶路撒冷，”内塔尼亚胡说道。

He accused Kerry of not doing enough in his speech to discuss the “campaign of terrorism” by Palestinians against Israel over a long period of time.

他谴责克里在演讲中不甚提及巴勒斯坦长期以来对以色列发动的“恐怖活动”。

Kerry, in his speech, said the Obama administration has been Israel’s “greatest friend and supporter.”He said he and the president have continually spoken out against terrorism against Israel.

克里在他的演讲中称奥巴马政府一直以来都是以色列最好的朋友和支持者。他和总统一直都反对针对以色列的恐怖活动。

But he said the U.S. had no choice but to criticize the growing Israeli settlements that, he said,threaten a two-state peace agreement.He said the number of Israeli settlers on the West Bank increased by 100,000 since Obama became president.

但是他说美国现在别无他法只能谴责以色列越来越多的定居行为，这一行为威胁到了两国和平协议。他说自奥巴马当政以来，以色列在约旦河西岸的定居者增加了10万。

“Now, one thing we do know: if Israel goes down the one-state path, it will never have true peace with the rest of the Arab world, and I can say that with certainty,” Kerry said.

“现在有件事我们非常清楚：如果以色列继续坚持一国战略，那么阿拉伯世界其他国家将永远不会真正地实现和平，这一点我非常肯定，”克里说道。

In defending his criticism of a U.S. ally, Kerry said: “Friends need to tell each other the hard truths.”

为了反驳美国是其他国家同盟的说法，克里说道：“是朋友就应该告诉他真相，无论真相有多么残酷。”

Words in This Story

commit - v. to say someone will definitely do something

justify - v. to provide a good reason for doing something

burden - n. someone or something that is very difficult to accept, do, or deal with

legitimate - adj. allowed or understandable

passionately - adv. having, showing, or expressing strong emotions or beliefs

enable - v. to make someone able to do or to be something

eternal - adj. lasting forever