U.S. Jewish Groups Slam Obama Administration for UN Anti-Israel Resolution

President Barack Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, S
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Adelle Nazarian

Jewish groups have come out against the Obama administration’s decision to vote against Israel on Friday by deciding to abstain from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a halt to Israeli construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

The American Jewish Committee said it is “profoundly disturbed” by America’s decision to abstain.

The Anti-Defamation League also condemned the “passing of the biased UNSC resolution against Israel,” and expressed deep disappointment over the Obama administration’s decision.

Fourteen member states voted in favor of the resolution; none voted against it, and the United States abstained.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Center’s Associate Dean, issued a joint statement against the resolution’s passage:

Today’s abstention by the United States at the UN Security Council’s anti-Israel resolution will only make a negotiated peace in the Middle East much more difficult to achieve. Given the continued explosion of terrorist assaults around the world, the UN resolution should have demanded the end of Hamas’ presence as a prerequisite for a two-state solution.

We appreciate the efforts of President-elect Trump to convince President Obama to veto the resolution and look forward to his immediately moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.

StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein wrote, “[w]hile both sides in this conflict are subject to criticism, placing most of the blame on Israel while shielding Palestinian leaders from accountability is not a path to peace or justice for either side.”

StandWithUs noted that the resolution “failed to hold Hamas or the Palestinian Authority (PA) explicitly accountable for these destructive activities” or terrorism and incitement to violence.

Jewish Democrats and supporters of President Barack Obama, also condemned the vote:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was one of the few Jewish Democratic leaders who condoned Friday’s vote:

Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Richard Blumental (D-CT), Al Franken (D-MN) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have not yet weighed in:

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