British Prime Minister Theresa May has criticised the speech delivered on Wednesday by US Secretary of State John Kerry for singling out the issue of Israeli settlements.

In response to John Kerry’s address, which was sharply critical of Israel’s government and its policies, a spokesman for Theresa May said: “We do not believe that the way to negotiate peace is by focusing on only one issue, in this cases the construction of settlements, when clearly the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is so deeply complex.”

The statement added: “And we do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically-elected government of an ally. The government believes that negotiations will only succeed when they are conducted between the two parties, supported by the international community.”

Kerry had said in his speech that Israel’s government “is the most right-wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by its most extreme elements,” and that “the settler agenda is defining the future in Israel… they believe in one state: greater Israel”.

May also reiterated that ‘’the British government continues to believe that the only way to a lasting peace in the Middle East is through a two-state solution.’’

She added: “We continue to believe that the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories is illegal,” and that consequently the UK supported last week’s UN Security Council resolution which took aim at Israeli settlements.

She also added: “But we are also clear that the settlements are far from the only problem in this conflict. In particular, the people of Israel deserve to live free from the threat of terrorism, with which they have had to cope for too long.”

In the wake of last week’s UN Security Council resolution, Britain’s deputy ambassador in Israel was summoned to Israel’s foreign ministry over the government’s support for the motion. However, the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports that he cancelled an upcoming meeting with May at the Davos Summit.

The US State Department responded that it was "surprised" by May's statement, "given that Secretary Kerry's remarks-which covered the full range of threats to a two-state solution, including terrorism, violence, incitement and settlements, were in-line with the UK's own longstanding policy and its vote at the United Nations last week."

It added: "We are grateful for the strongly supportive statements in response to Secretary Kerry's speech from across the world, including Germany, France, Canada, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and others."

In the wake of last week’s UN Security Council resolution, Britain’s deputy ambassador in Israel was summoned to Israel’s foreign ministry over the government’s support for the motion. However, the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports that he cancelled an upcoming meeting with May at the Davos Summit.

The US did not veto the December 23 Security Council vote on settlements - the first time it has refrained from blocking an anti-Israel resolution since 2009.