The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to condemn a UN resolution reprimanding the Zionist entity over its settlement activity, blasting last month’s move by the international body as “an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace.”
The congressional measure passed 342 to 80, with broad bipartisan support. It noted in particular that the US administration’s refusal to veto the controversial Security Council measure “undermined” Washington’s decades-long position of opposing anti-Zionist entity action at the United Nations.
Incensed US lawmakers — and President-elect Donald Trump — have assailed Barack Obama’s outgoing administration for abstaining in the December 23 vote instead of vetoing the UN resolution, essentially clearing the way for its passage.
“I am stunned at what happened last month. This government — our government — abandoned our ally Israel when she needed us the most,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told the chamber shortly before the House vote.
“It is time to repair the damage done by this misguided hit job at the UN,” he added.
The House measure, which is non-binding, calls for the UN resolution “to berepealed or fundamentally altered so that… it is no longer one-sided and anti-Israel” and allows all final status issues toward a two-state solution to be resolved through direct bilateral negotiation.
It also demands that the United States ensures that no action be taken at the Paris Conference on the Zionist-Palestinian conflict scheduled for January 15, that would impose an agreement on the two sides.
Source: AFP
