Israel Summons All Ambassadors Over UN Resolution
Tel Aviv, 25 Rabiul Awwal 1438/25 December 2016 (MINA) – Benjamin Netanyahu has summoned the ambassadors of all UN security council members who backed a resolution condemning Israeli settlements to “personally reprimand” them.
According to Israeli media reports the ambassadors summoned on Sunday for the Israeli prime minister’s dressing down include all those from security council members with permanent missions in Israel: Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, France, Britain, Angola, Egypt, Uruguay and Spain, The Guardian reported.
Israel rejects ‘shameful’ UN resolutioThe resolution, which passed on Friday with 14 votes in support and only the US abstaining, condemned Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territoriesas constitut[ing] a flagrant violation under international law.
It also demanded that states “distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the state of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967”.
Netanyahu also accused the US president, Barack Obama, of directly coordinating the resolution at the morning cabinet meeting. “We have no doubt that the Obama administration initiated it, stood behind it, coordinated its versions and insisted upon its passage,” he said. Washington has denied this.
The rebuke came as Israel continued to retaliate against countries that supported the motion, cutting aid to Senegal, cancelling forthcoming official visits – including by the Ukrainian prime minister – and recalling two of its ambassadors.
Netanyahu also ordered the Israeli foreign ministry to “re-evaluate all of our ties to the UN within a month”.
Netanyahu is under renewed political pressure to bring forward controversial legislation to legalise dozens of currently illegal outposts in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Significantly, the US ambassador was not summoned, despite the Obama administration’s decision not toveto the resolution – an abstention described by Netanyahu as an “underhanded and anti-Israel manoeuvre”.
A senior diplomat quoted by the Haaretz newspaper suggested irritation in the diplomatic community with Netanyahu’s Christmas Day summons. “What would they have said in Jerusalem if we summoned the Israeli ambassador on Yom Kippur,” the diplomat told the paper.
The ambassadors’ dressing-down comes amid mounting criticism of Netanyahu from Israeli politicians and the media. Some prominent columnists have blamed Netanyahu’s poor relationship with Obama and his prioritisation of Jewish settlers for the UN resolution.
Israel has continued to condemn Obama and Friday’s resolution, which demanded a halt to settlements in Palestinian territory – the first UN resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy.(T/RE1/P02)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
