Obama Admin Infuriates Israel with UN Vote That's a Gut-Punch to One of America's Strongest Allies
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The resolution has passed before, but usually, doesn't make it far. That's because the United States has used its veto power in the UN to stop it from making any real progress.
However, the Obama administration didn't use its veto power this time around. Instead, they abstained, allowing the resolution to pass.
Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., explained the reason the U.S. abstained:
“Further settlement activity is in no way necessary for the security of Israel, and only diminishes the confidence of the Arabs that a final outcome can be freely and fairly negotiated.”Israel officials are reportedly furious.
The New York Post reported on just how furious:
An Israeli official on Friday accused President Barack Obama of colluding with the Palestinians in a “shameful move against Israel at the UN” after learning the White House did not intend to veto a Security Council resolution condemning settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem the day before.A lot of people weighed in on the historic snub of Israel.
“President Obama and Secretary Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the UN,” the official said. “The US administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti-Israeli resolution behind Israel’s back which would be a tail wind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory,” he said, calling it “an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN.”
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough had this take:
George W. Bush's former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer hammered the Obama administration:
Hollywood actor Adam Baldwin went in, hard:
And then there was this hot take:
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the U.S. to veto the UN resolution. Netanyahu has yet to comment on the Obama administration's decision to abstain, facilitating the resolution's passing.
But President-Elect Trump did comment on the news, via Twitter, “As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th.”
UPDATE: Netanyahu has now commented on the news:
Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms. At a time when the Security Council does nothing to stop the slaughter of half a million people in Syria, it disgracefully gangs up on the one true democracy in the Middle East, Israel, and calls the Western Wall “occupied territory.”
The Obama administration not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN, it colluded behind the scenes. Israel looks forward to working with President-elect Trump and with all our friends in Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, to negate the harmful effects of this absurd resolution.
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