Israel Furious Over UNSC Resolution
Israel temporarily suspended its working ties with the embassies of the 12 UN Security Council members after Friday’s resolution citing the country’s settlement on West Bank “illegal.”
CNN reports said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for Israel’s foreign ministry to temporarily limit working ties with the members who voted in favour of Friday’s resolution. These countries are Britain, France, Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, Angola, Egypt, Uruguay, Spain, Senegal and New Zealand.
The passage of Security Council resolution 2334 declared that Israel’s settlements in the West Bank “had no legal validity, constituting a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the vision of two States living side-by-side in peace and security.”
The Consequences
The suspension of working ties with the embassies of the 12 nations entails the following:
One, Netanyahu will not meet with the foreign ministers of those countries and their ambassadors will not be received at Israel’s foreign ministry.
Second, travel by Israeli ministers to those countries will also be limited and other dignitary visits.
However, Israeli officials said the report was “simply untrue” and that “we’re talking about temporarily limiting our work with embassies and regarding dignitary visits.”
What About the United States
The United States, a Security Council member, abstained on the resolution, but did not use its veto to block it. But Prime Minister Netanyahu was not happy about that.
He told his Cabinet on Sunday, “From the information that we have, we have no doubt that the Obama Administration initiated it, stood behind it, co-ordinated on the wording and demanded that it be passed.”
A Look Back in History
Israel captured East Jerusalem along with the West Bank and Gaza in the Six-Day War in 1967, but annexed the city as its united capital in a move not recognized by the international community. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future State.
Many nations, including the United States, consider the settlements that Israel has built-in what it calls “occupied land” as illegal.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been stalled since late September last year following Israel’s refusal to extend a 10-month freeze on settlement activity. That decision prompted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to withdraw from direct talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
