Author: Paul Lehr
Joel 3:2b Israel…and they have divided up My land.
December 23, 2016: Today, the United States chose not to vote on the UN resolution banning further construction of Israeli settlements. By abstaining, the measure passed unanimously 14-0. The measure calls on Israel to stop construction immediately. Yesterday, Egypt brought forth the proposal. Today, Malaysia introduced the resolution to the UN.
The Palestinian Authority celebrated the vote as “a day of victory.”
US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power stated, “We cannot stand in the way of this resolution…two states living side by side in peace and security. The settlement problem has gotten so much worse. One has to make a choice between settlements and separation. We would not have let this resolution pass had it not also addressed counter productive actions by the Palestinians.”
Israeli cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi said the non vote by the Obama administration is a “spits in the face” of President Elect Donald Trump.
“Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. 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. Would you ban the French from building in Paris?” -Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.
In response to the vote, the United States Congress threatened to defund the United Nations. The United States is responsible for 22% of the UN funds.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made the following statement. Graham is in charge of the purse strings to the UN.
“This provocative action by the United Nations is an outrage and must be dealt with sternly and forcefully. If the United Nations moves forward with the ill conceivork to form a bipartisan coalition to suspend or significantly reduce United States assistance to the United Nations. In addition, any nation which backs this resolution and receives assistance from the United States will put that assistance in jeopardy.”
Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma also issued a statement.
“By allowing the United Nations’ anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the Security Council, in the face of fierce bi-partisan opposition, the actions of the Obama Administration will forever be remembered as a dark, shameful moment for our country. The resolution passed today will only serve as a greater barrier to peace, which can only truly be achieved through negotiations. Instead of pressuring the Palestinians to be a partner for peace, President Obama chose to break with long standing diplomatic practices and allowed the one-sided, anti-Israel United Nations to be used as a tool to bludgeon Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East.
We applaud the efforts of Republican Senators, led by Senator Graham, to strip funding to the United Nations, which has time and again showed their anti-Israel bias. What happened today will forever be on the heads of the President, his Party, and groups like J Street that remained silent.”
“As to the UN, things will be different after January 20,” President Elect Donald Trump tweeted.
Trend Update: Obama Sides With UN on Israeli Settlements, December 2016
