Obama Kicks Israel on His Way Out the Door

 

Aleppo is crumbling, Libya is in ruins, Russia is threatening its neighbors, and China is militarizing the South China Sea. But the UN is taking action against Israel. And Obama let them:

The U.N. Security Council on Friday passed a resolution demanding Israel cease Jewish settlement activity on Palestinian territory in a unanimous vote that passed when the United States abstained rather than using its veto as it has reliably done in the past.

The resolution declares settlements constructed on land Israel has occupied since the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem, have “no legal validity.” It said settlements threaten the viability of the two-state solution, and it urged Israelis and Palestinians to return to negotiations that lead to two independent nations.

The United States’ abstention Friday was a rare (“rare?” – ed.) rebuke to Israel, and reflected mounting frustration in the Obama administration over settlement growth that the United States considers an obstacle to peace. With President Obama’s time in office due to end in barely a month, his decision not to veto was a symbolic statement of that displeasure.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump called on the current administration to oppose the anti-Israel resolution, as did senators of both parties. The most impactful response came from Sen. Lindsey Graham who threatened financial support for Israel’s enemies around the world and the UN itself:

This provocative action by the United Nations is an outrage and must be dealt with sternly and forcefully. As the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I oversee the United States assistance to the United Nations.

The United States is currently responsible for approximately 22 percent of the United Nations total budget. If the United Nations moves forward with the ill-conceived resolution, I will work to form a bipartisan coalition to suspend or significantly reduce United States assistance to the United Nations.

In addition, any nation which backs this resolution and receives assistance from the United States will put that assistance in jeopardy.

There is a reason the United States has long opposed these type efforts directed at Israel — the only way to achieve a lasting peace by the parties negotiating directly and not using the United Nations as a blunt instrument against Israel. This was President Obama’s position in 2011 and it should be his position today.

Needless to say, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not amused:

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.

Published in Foreign Policy
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 50 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Justin Hertog Inactive
    Justin Hertog
    @RooseveltGuck

    Ben Rhodes, by the way, is full of crap. Obama was hatching this abstention for a very long time. He never had any intention of achieving progress in the Middle East; what he really wanted was to make a deal with Iran. In order to get his Iran deal (“the equivalent of healthcare”) that he so coveted, he systematically pushed Israel away so that he could embrace Iran. Some of us believed that he would be satisfied with having achieved his Iran deal, and leave Israel in peace. But Obama had other plans.

    • #31
  2. Knotwise the Poet Member
    Knotwise the Poet
    @KnotwisethePoet

    MJBubba:America has very few friends around the world that we can count on.

    View comment in context.

    Worse, America has very few friends we can count on INSIDE the White House.

    • #32
  3. Painter Jean Moderator
    Painter Jean
    @PainterJean

    This strikes me as an excellent opportunity to finally defund and ultimately leave the corrupt UN.

    • #33
  4. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    What Would Hillary Do?

    • #34
  5. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    The Reticulator:What Would Hillary Do?

    View comment in context.

    Let is stand, of course.

    • #35
  6. MichaelHenry Member
    MichaelHenry
    @MichaelHenry

    Remarkably disgraceful abstention, accomplished while missing a putt for a double-bogey on Kapolei Golf Course, HI.

    • #36
  7. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    I wonder – Will this bit of perfidy on the part of Obama cause the Dems to reconsider whether or not Keith Ellison should be the next head of the DNC?

    • #37
  8. Skarv Inactive
    Skarv
    @Skarv

    Samantha Power’s “Are you truly incapable of shame?” can now be directed to Obama and herself.

    • #38
  9. Bryan Stascavage Inactive
    Bryan Stascavage
    @bstas

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Aleppo is crumbling, Libya is in ruins, Russia is threatening its neighbors, and China is militarizing the South China Sea. But the UN is taking action against Israel.

    Beware of whataboutism.

    • #39
  10. Justin Hertog Inactive
    Justin Hertog
    @RooseveltGuck

    Trump should announce on January 20th that the US has changed its vote at the Security Council to a veto. And, that the resolution is dead.

    • #40
  11. Duane Oyen Member
    Duane Oyen
    @DuaneOyen

    This is the one time where Trump’s personality, impetuousness and general bullying demeanor could pay off.  He is quite philosemitic, so the logical response to this stuff when Condi and Powell are not there to push for the usual fluff reaction (Powell would have said “Let’s not do anything rash” after Pearl Harbor and Kerry would have rushed to Tokyo with an aid proposal to take all the oil produced in Texas and donate it to the Japanese navy) is to hold back cash from the UN and give a 6 month deadline to withdraw the resolution or be kicked out of NY and sent to have the new Turtle Bay in Moscow.

    • #41
  12. Israel P. Inactive
    Israel P.
    @IsraelP

    Justin Hertog:Obama is a disgrace. I’m going to enjoy watching Congress and the President systematically undo every one of his signature non-achievements.

    View comment in

    I will enjoy watching Democrats decide between defending him and being decent human beings.

    • #42
  13. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    ctlaw:

    tigerlily:

    ctlaw:Three thug countries and one that has the luxury to stab the civilized world in the back did not want it withdrawn.

    Quietpi:Correct me here. I just read an article that said Egypt, the resolution’s sponsor, had withdrawn it at the last minute.

    View comment in context.

    View comment in context.

    New Zealand? What the hell is going on in New Zealand?

    View comment in context.

    Dear Muslim World,

    Please kill us last.

    Love,

    New Zealand

    View comment in context.

    I think it’s time we review our defense commitments to New Zealand.

    • #43
  14. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Bryan G. Stephens:

    The Reticulator:What Would Hillary Do?

    View comment in context.

    Let is stand, of course.

    View comment in context.

    It’s going to be impossible to reverse at the UN.  But the US can and should move it’s embassy to Jerusalem.

    • #44
  15. Duane Oyen Member
    Duane Oyen
    @DuaneOyen

    Duane Oyen:This is the one time where Trump’s personality, impetuousness and general bullying demeanor could pay off. He is quite philosemitic, so the logical response to this stuff when Condi and Powell are not there to push for the usual fluff reaction (Powell would have said “Let’s not do anything rash” after Pearl Harbor and Kerry would have rushed to Tokyo with an aid proposal to take all the oil produced in Texas and donate it to the Japanese navy) is to hold back cash from the UN and give a 6 month deadline to withdraw the resolution or be kicked out of NY and sent to have the new Turtle Bay in Moscow.

    View comment in context.

    Here is Anne Bayefsky saying the same thing:

    http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/12/24/diplomatic-terrorism-at-un-courtesy-president-obama.html

    • #45
  16. Ford Penney Inactive
    Ford Penney
    @FordPenney

    Making sure that when he closes the White House door for the last time he has put in motion the Middle East conflagration that he’s been aiding and abetting for the last 8 years… ‘one last match ought to do it.’

    Side note- when this turns ugly the ex-president will quote himself saying “I did everything I could to avoid this”… the lack of self-awareness is because he’s always been a legend in his own mind. But Aleppo is proof that the middle east is of no real concern, he doesn’t even acknowledge the blood on his hands… James Taylor diplomacy doesn’t seem to deter anyone.

    • #46
  17. ctlaw Coolidge
    ctlaw
    @ctlaw

    Ford Penney: Side note- when this turns ugly the ex-president will quote himself saying “I did everything I could to avoid this”… the lack of self-awareness is because he’s always been a legend in his own mind.

    View comment in context.

    This gets back 8 years ago to Rush Limbaugh’s morally clear “I hope he fails.” Limbaugh did not wishfully attribute good intentions to Obama.

    That was preceded by McCain’s foolishly telling a woman that Obama “is a decent person, and a person that you do not have to be scared as President of the United States.” It was ultimately followed by Romney’s statement that Obama is “a nice guy” who is “well meaning, but just over his head…”

    I do not accept that Obama seeks peace and is foolish about it. He seeks dead Jews. The surviving and thriving of Israel and the Jews against great adversity is an affront to everything Obama and his allies stand for.   As long as Israel and the Jews exist, there is a constant reminder that the problems of places like the Muslim world and Africa are internal in origin.

    • #47
  18. PoliticalWoman Inactive
    PoliticalWoman
    @PoliticalWoman

    Obama never forgave Netanyahu for his address before Congress.  Netanyahu is also the kind of leader that Obama failed to become, and therefore, petty, vindictive, Alinsky-inspired Obama holds grudges.  Why should be we surprised.

    I’m waiting for Bergdahl to be pardoned, and all the Dreamers given blanket amnesty as well.  Obama’s not through by a long shot.

    • #48
  19. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    After re-reading this, and some other articles on the laserweb, I come to this short conclusion.

    Barry has committed a cowardly act.  He can’t say what he really thinks, because, y’know, Barry Being Barry, so he commands  a proxy to do it for him at the UN, and goes golfing.

    Cowardice in a president.  How lovely.

    • #49
  20. Justin Hertog Inactive
    Justin Hertog
    @RooseveltGuck

    I wonder what Kerry’s good friend Peres would have said if he had known that his good friend John was going to plot with Israel’s enemies to ambush the Jewish State at the U.N.

     

    • #50
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.