Benjamin Netanyahu has summoned the ambassadors of all UN security council members which 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.
Israel rejects 'shameful' UN resolution amid criticism of Netanyahu
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The resolution, which passed on Friday with 14 votes in support and only the US abstaining, condemned Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territoriesas constituting a flagrant violation of 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 to veto the resolution – an abstention described by Netanyahu as an “underhanded and anti-Israel manoeuvre”.
Later on Sunday, however, the US state department said its ambassador would meet the Israeli prime minister.
“We can confirm Ambassador Shapiro will meet with PM Netanyahu this evening,” the state department said in a brief statement to Agence France-Presse.
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.
By deciding not to use its veto, the US deeply angered Israel, which has accused Obama of abandoning its closest Middle East ally in the waning days of his administration.
The text was passed with support from all other members of the 15-member security council. Applause broke out in the chamber when the vote results were read out.
The landmark vote came despite intense lobbying by Israel and calls from the US president-elect, Donald Trump, to block the text.
While the resolution contains no sanctions, Israeli officials are concerned it could widen the possibility of prosecution at the international criminal court. They are also worried it could encourage some countries to impose sanctions against Israeli settlers and goods produced in the settlements.
Netanyahu called the resolution a “shameful blow against Israel at the United Nations”.
“The decision that was taken was biased and shameful, but we will withstand it,” the Israeli leader said on Saturday evening. “It will take time, but this decision will be annulled.”
Singling out New Zealand and Senegal, he added: “Two countries with which we have diplomatic relations co-sponsored the resolution against us at the UN; therefore, I ordered yesterday that our ambassadors be recalled from Senegal and from New Zealand. I have ordered that all Israeli assistance to Senegal be halted, and there’s more to come.
“Those who work with us will benefit because Israel has much to give to the countries of the world. But those who work against us will lose – because there will be a diplomatic and economic price for their actions against Israel.”
Netanyahu said Obama had broken a longstanding US commitment not to “dictate the terms of peace to Israel” at the UN. The resolution, Netanyahu said, was “part of the swansong of the old world that is biased against Israel, but, my friends, we are entering a new era”, referring to Trump’s imminent presidency.
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