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VANIER: John Kerry is getting blunt with Israel as his time as the U.S. secretary of state nears its end.</s>CHURCH: He was scathing in his criticism of Israeli settlements on Wednesday, arguing that they are jeopardizing Middle East peace. CNN's Jim Sciutto has the details.</s>JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Friends need to tell each other the hard truths.</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Secretary of State John Kerry delivering a blunt message to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</s>KERRY: The Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution but his current coalition is the most right wing in Israeli history within an agenda driven by the most extreme elements.</s>SCIUTTO (voice-over): Pushing back following Washington's decision not to veto the United Nations' vote condemning Israeli settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank.</s>KERRY: On this point, I want to be very clear. No American administration has done more for Israel's security than Barack Obama's.</s>SCIUTTO (voice-over): Kerry vehemently defended the U.S. abstention, saying the very prospects of Middle East peace are at stake.</s>KERRY: The vote in the United Nations was about preserving the two- state solution. That's what we were standing up for. The two-state solution is now in serious jeopardy.</s>SCIUTTO (voice-over): Kerry acknowledged the U.S. consulted on the resolution, but denies Israel's claim in the U.S. was the driving force behind it.</s>KERRY: The United States did not draft or originate this resolution, nor did we put it forward.</s>SCIUTTO (voice-over): Israel's Netanyahu called Kerry's speech disappointing and more.</s>BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Israelis do not need to be lectured about the importance of peace by foreign leaders.</s>SCIUTTO (voice-over): Prime Minister Netanyahu promised Israel has the evidence to prove that the U.S. orchestrated the vote and would show that evidence to president-elect Trump when he takes office in just a few weeks.</s>NETANYAHU: We have it on absolutely incontestable evidence that the United States organized, advanced and brought this resolution to the United Nations Security Council. We'll share that information with the incoming administration.</s>SCIUTTO (voice-over): For his part, President-Elect Trump did not stand on the sidelines, tweeting before Kerry's speech, "We cannot continue to let Israel --</s>SCIUTTO (voice-over): -- be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S. but not anymore. Stay strong, Israel, January 20th is fast approaching." Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly tweeted back, "President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel." Despite the public tensions, President Obama recently decided to increase U.S. aid to Israel committing $38 billion over 10 years. Part of the largest pledge of military assistance in U.S. history, which Kerry noted was not a new stance.</s>KERRY: In the midst of our own financial crisis and budget deficits, we repeatedly increased funding to support Israel. In fact, more than one half of our entire global foreign military financing goes to Israel.</s>VANIER: The talk radio host, Ethan Bearman (ph), joins me now from Los Angeles. Ethan, your point of view on this is interesting. And I want to hear you out. You are concerned about the impending Donald Trump presidency, including his policy vis-a-vis Israel, possibly; I imagine you'll tell us about that. But you're also concerned about the current U.S. policy, Washington letting a resolution critical of Israel pass at the U.N. Security Council. Tell us more.</s>ETHAN BEARMAN (PH), TALK RADIO HOST: It's a little conflicting as a Jewish person but as an American citizen first; I look at what is happening in the Middle East and I look at the approach of the current administration as something problematic. I did not appreciate or approve of the way the U.S. handled this. I think it was damaging to our relationship with Israel. And I do look forward to President Trump being a better friend to Israel. But overall I have concerns with the Trump presidency and I don't support it overall. So we can be supportive of a President Trump or a President-Elect Trump regarding Israel. But I'm going to be critical of him and cast a wary eye his way in everything else that he does as president here in the United States.</s>VANIER: All right. So let me take it in steps. Why are you so concerned that the U.S. let the U.N. Security Council pass a resolution critical of Israel? Previous U.S. administrations have done so in the past and they've done so more often than the Obama administration.</s>BEARMAN (PH): Yes, well, I think in this specific situation, you have to look at the timing of the resolution. You have to look at the wording of the resolution and you have to look at what has been going on the last several years here. I personally think that the two-state solution at this point is dead. And I don't see how in the Trump administration --</s>VANIER: Does that mean you favor a one-state solution?</s>BEARMAN (PH): Yes, I think so. I think in my travels to Israel and the people that I have talked to, they are looking forward to a peace and stability. And what I saw, Hamas, it's Judenrein in Gaza. And the Palestinian Authority has shown no interest in having Jews living in its territory. So as Prime Minister Netanyahu talked about, are we looking at ethnic cleansing of the Jews if we just say, two-state solution, have this territory, Jews leave but the Arabs have full rights in Israel? I mean we have supreme court justices in Israel that are Arab --</s>VANIER: -- interrupt you respectfully there for a second. What would you answer then to the U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, outgoing secretary of state, who said today, Israel cannot remain a democracy if it pursues the one-state solution?</s>BEARMAN (PH): Yes, I just don't agree with that. I think he's totally wrong. I think the two-state solution has been attempted now for 50 years-plus and nothing has changed. Every time it is talking about Israel must do this or that. And on what basis? So when Israel in the past, even in the Obama administration, did a 10-month freeze of settlements, did the Palestinians come forward? Did anything change on the other side? Nothing changed. So doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. I think a whole new approach needs to be taken. I think what the Obama administration did undermines any kind of a new approach moving forward. And I'm deeply concerned that there isn't going to be peace found in the next four years.</s>VANIER: And what do you say to the argument that if Israel continues settlement building, it just makes a Palestinian state totally unviable?</s>BEARMAN (PH): I think that's a fallacious argument because how many Palestinian refugee camps have there been since 1948 in the surrounding countries like Lebanon and Jordan and other places? Did the Palestinian refugees get resettled in those countries? And if not, why not? These are the big questions that are never being asked. Why is the head of Hamas, have $2.6 billion that he is stealing from the people, the actual Palestinian people, are who I'm concerned about and who aren't being talked about here and the leadership is subjugating their own people and using them as pawns in these conversations.</s>VANIER: Ethan Bearman (ph), thank you very much for giving us your opinion. Ethan Bearman (ph) there, talk radio host, joining us from Los Angeles.</s>VANIER: Thanks.</s>BEARMAN (PH): Thank you.</s>CHURCH: Now to another story we're following, the U.S. is expected to announce a series of reprisals against Russia for meddling in the U.S. presidential election. Officials say the new measures could be announced as early as Thursday, including targeting people close to President Putin.</s>VANIER: CNN contributor and former Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty says the U.S. will likely take several different actions against Moscow.</s>JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there would basically be three. One is going to be sanctions, we expect. And you would expect that that would be one thing. Number two would be some type of diplomatic action and number three would be the covert action. And the covert action, we might not even know that the United States is taking some action. They can do it without warning. The president has said previously that he would do it in his own time, but those are the three.</s>CHURCH: Moscow denies any role in the widespread hacking of U.S. political groups during the election. Russia's foreign ministry warns it will retaliate if the U.S. takes any hostile steps.</s>VANIER: A legend of old Hollywood dies the day after her daughter. We'll be remembering Debbie Reynolds -- next on CNN.