Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday gave a speech outlining the Obama Administration’s plan for peace in the Middle East, just weeks before President-Elect Trump takes office.

Kerry's speech marked the latest escalation in a row between the U.S. and Israel over the U.S.’s abstention from voting on a U.N. Security Council resolution last week that called Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem a violation of international law.

The extraordinary display of discord between allies - with U.S. and Israeli officials openly disparaging each other - has also pitted President Barack Obama against President-elect Donald Trump, who has firmly taken Netanyahu's side.

What does the Obama administration hope to achieve with the speech?

With AP Files

Guest:

Aaron David Miller, Vice President for New Initiatives and a Distinguished Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He has written numerous books on the Middle East, including “The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace" (Bantam, 2008)