House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) slammed President Barack Obama and his administration’s decision to abstain from voting on Friday’s United Nations Security Council resolution against Israel.
Royce, who has been critical of President Obama over his foreign policy and particularly over the Iran nuclear deal, also noted that he looks forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office on January 20th, 2017.
“The Obama administration’s refusal to veto this one-sided, anti-Israel resolution is a dangerous and counterproductive step,” Royce said in a statement. “It goes against years of established, bipartisan U.S. policy. I look forward to working with the Trump administration to strengthen the U.S.-Israel partnership.”
Even critics of Trump have agreed that he will be the most pro-Israel and most pro-Jewish president the United States has ever elected.
Many Jewish groups have come out against the UN’s anti-Israel resolution. Jewish Democrats, who have long supported President Obama, also condemned the move. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power justified the Obama administration’s decision to depart from longstanding U.S. policy of vetoing anti-Israel resolutions by claiming that “the settlements have no legality.”
California’s own Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was one of the few Jewish Democratic leaders who condoned America’s decision to abstain from voting:
(1/2) Ending settlement activity is an absolute necessity if we’re ever to achieve a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 23, 2016
(2/2) @POTUS's decision today sends a strong message that the United States still supports a two-state solution. https://t.co/C2k7rt0X4P
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 23, 2016
In her statement, she said, “I’ve met with displaced Palestinian families who have been kicked off land they’ve lived on for many generations. The ill will that results from these settlements is a significant roadblock to peace, and I again call on Israel to end their expansion so that a two- state solution remains a possibility.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bureau sent Breitbart Jerusalem the following statement on the U.S. decision to abstain from the vote, thus ensuring the approval of the resolution:
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 with it 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.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Periscope and Twitter @AdelleNaz
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