The resolution called continuing construction in the Palestinian territory a “flagrant violation” of global law, and it called on Israel to halt all settlement activities in order to salvage a two-state solution.
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From the perspective of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Trump’s embrace of pro-settlement politics are a welcome change from President Obama, who pushed hard for Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in the early aughts of his presidency.
Netanyahu said friends of Israel in the US and the incoming Trump administration would fight anti-Israel efforts at the UN Trump tweeted on Friday that “as to the UN, things will be different after January 20”, the day he takes office.
The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. Samantha Power gave a statement after the vote saying that the US chose not to vote on the resolution “because the resolution is too narrowly focused on settlements”.
“Whatever one’s views are on settlements, anyone who cares about the future of Israel and peace in the region knows that the United Nations, with its one-sidedness, is exactly the wrong forum to bring about peace”, the New York Democrat said in a statement. It demanded a halt to such activities for the sake of “salvaging the two-state solution”.
By abstaining – instead of vetoing the resolution, as the United States has reliably done to similar measures for decades – the Obama administration allowed the highly symbolic measure to make it through the chamber.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at President Obama.
The escalation of this controversy both in Israel and in the USA makes one wonder whether Trump and Netanyahu might (after Trump’s inauguration, anyway) exploit the occasion to change both nations’ positions on the underlying conflict.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN had earlier called on the United States to continue to “stand by” Israel over the resolution created to bring an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
The United States is widely regarded as Israel’s most important ally, and provides roughly $3 billion annually to the nation’s defense budget.
That draft was put on hold but it made a reappearance with sponsorship from New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela.
Presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said the resolution, adopted by a vote of 14 in favour, showed there was “strong support for the two-state solution”.
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Israeli settlements are seen as a major stumbling block to peace efforts, as they are built on land the Palestinians consider part of their future state.
