Friday, less than 24 hours after a previous resolution circulated by Egypt was “tabled indefinitely,” the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution that condemns Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Reversing decades of longstanding U.S. foreign policy, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power abstained, allowing the resolution to be adopted by a 14-0 vote. In defense of her abstention, Power offered perhaps the most convoluted piece of gobbledygook ever uttered in the Security Council chamber.
“The United States has been sending a message that the settlements must stop privately and publicly for nearly five decades,” she said after the vote. “One cannot simultaneously champion expanding Israeli settlements and champion a viable two state solution that would end the conflict. One had to make a choice between settlements and separation.”
The U.S. Mission to the U.N. has not yet made Power’s full comments available.
Other member representatives emphasized their votes were based on the premise that it would save the so-called “Two-State Solution” in which Israel and Palestine would become sovereign states with Jerusalem as a shared capital. U.N. Resolution 2334 said the settlements have “no legal validity,” and makes the demand that settlement activities be halted while simultaneously denouncing Islamist terror attacks on innocent Israelis.
“This is a day of victory for international law, a victory for civilized language and negotiation and a total rejection of extremist forces in Israel,” Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat reportedly told Reuters after the vote. “The international community has told the people of Israel that the way to security and peace is not going to be done through occupation … but rather through peace, ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state to live side by side with the state of Israel on the 1967 line.”
The resolution was pushed by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal. After its adoption, there was a round of applause in the chamber.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon and other Israeli officials condemned the resolution. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that rather than a resolution against settlements, it was a resolution against Israel, the Jewish people and the “state of the Jews” and accused the U.S. under President Barack Obama of abandoning Israel.
President-elect Donald Trump, however, noted that “[a]s to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20.” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) agreed with his own statement.
“This is absolutely shameful,” he said. “Today’s vote is a blow to peace that sets a dangerous precedent for further diplomatic efforts to isolate and demonize Israel. Our unified Republican government will work to reverse the damage done by this administration, and rebuild our alliance with Israel.”
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