Casablanca – After the UN voted for a resolution to stop further illegal Israeli settlements, Israel has said that it rejects the “anti-Israel resolution” and that it “will not abide by its terms.”
The UN Security Council passed a historic resolution against Israel’s settlement in Palestinian land on Friday, after the US chose to abstain from voting rather than useits veto. The UN tweeted its adoption ofresolution 2334, after 14 countries voted ‘yes,’ despite the US decision.
The Obama administration’s decision not veto the resolution, which challenged Israeli lobbying and the alleged pressure of the US President-Elect Donald Trump, stands at odds with its long-standing history of supporting Israel in the UN. Loud applause erupted in the UN chamber following the adoption of the resolution.
Equally unconventional was Egypt’s decision to postpone the vote against the Israeli settlement. The Egyptian President’s office said that Trump, who was lobbied into pressuring Obama, called Abdelfattah El-Sisi and convinced him to postpone the vote. The Egyptian Presidency spokesman asserted that the two leaders agreed to allow Trump’s administration to deal the issue.
The resolution demands that Israel “cease all settlement activities in occupied Palestinian territory,” which have “no legal validity,” to “salvage the two-state solution.”
Shortly after the adoption of the resolution, a statement from the office of Benjamin Netanyahu was released, defying the UN Security Council’s voted decision:
“Israel rejects this shameful, anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. and will not abide by its terms,” said the statement.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, welcomed the adoption of the resolution and his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said.
“The secretary-general takes this opportunity to encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work with the international community to create a conducive environment for a return to meaningful negotiations.”
The resolution is now irreversible as huge number of countries oppose the illegal settlements in Palestinian land.
