(Newswire.net — December 25, 2016) — New York – The United Nations demanded Israel immediately stop building on Palestinian territory. President Netanyahu said that Tel Aviv will not adhere to this request.
Israel PM’s office stated: “Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms”, Reuters reports.
For the first time, the US didn’t protect Israel’s national interests in Gaza, due to President Obama’s order not to veto the resolution. The question is, has Israel lost its major ally, or has it just gone too far. Either way, this is a challenge for the UN to demonstrate whether it has the power to do what it was made for. It is hard to believe that the UN would impose embargo on Israel, and what would the US do if the embargo proposition ever reaches the UN timetable.
The resolution orders Tel Aviv to stop building settlements on Palestinian territory, because that is what Israel has been doing since 1967. There are more than 150 Israeli settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in the areas which Israel took from Palestine.
There were numerous times when the US had Israel’s back during disputes with Palestine, however, enough is enough according to the UN, and this time the US didn’t veto the resolution.
“With friends like that, who needs an enemy,” said the leader of Israel, forgetting all the support that his country has received from United States during more than half a century.
President elected Donald Trump also criticized Mr. Obama’s action in abstaining from the UN vote on Israeli settlements.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated that Israel will not abide by the UN Security Council’s demands for Tel Aviv to halt its settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian lands.
According to Reuters, the statement from the PM’s office said that “Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms”.
The Obama administration “failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN” and what is even worse, it has “colluded with it behind the scenes,” the statement added.
Since president-elect Donald Trump confronted Mr. Obama for not supporting Israel in the UN convention, Tel Aviv has sent a clear message that it will continue the cooperation only with the republican administration and others democrats who support Israel.
The 14 out of 15 UN Security Council members backed the resolution demanding an end to the construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.
The US was the only nation to abstain from voting.