902 UNSC passes "an anti-Israel resolution, against the Jewish people and the state of the Jews" - Israeli Energy Minister

UNSC passes "an anti-Israel resolution, against the Jewish people and
the state of the Jews" - Israeli Energy Minister

Newsletter published on 26 December 2016

(1) UNSC passes "an anti-Israel resolution, against the Jewish people
and the state of the Jews" - Israeli Energy Minister
(2) Zionist Organization of America brands UNSC Resolution "anti-Semitic"
(3) J Street welcomes the resolution; AIPAC 'deeply disturbed' by
Obama's failure to veto
(4) Netanyahu & Trump pressured Egypt to withdraw resolution; then other
countries put it
(5) Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish organizations condems the
Resolution
(6) Sen. Chuck Schumer & World Jewish Congress urged a Veto
(7) AIPAC & the Jewish Council for Public Affairs urged Obama to Veto
the Resolution
(8) Israel ends aid programs, orders ambassadors home after UNSC
condemnation of settlements
(9) Israel reconsiders its U.N. membership & funding after Settlement
resolution
(10) Obama branded a Jew hating anti-Semite after UN Resolution

(1) UNSC passes "an anti-Israel resolution, against the Jewish people
and the state of the Jews" - Israeli Energy Minister
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-24/us-rebukes-israel-and-allows-un-condemnation-of-settlements/8146442

US rebukes Israel and allows UN condemnation of settlements

The Obama administration has allowed the UN Security Council to adopt a
resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements, defying pressure
from US President-elect Donald Trump as well as Israel and several US
senators who urged Washington to use its veto.

Key points:

     The UN votes in favour of resolution calling for the end of Israeli
settlements condemning them as having "no legal validity"

     14 of the 15 member states voted in favour, US abstained from voting

     Israeli Energy Minister says the US "has abandoned its only friend
in the Middle East"

The resolution was put forward at the 15-member council for a vote on
Friday by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal a day after Egypt
withdrew it under pressure from Israel and Mr Trump. Israel and Mr Trump
had called on the United States to veto the measure.

It was adopted with 14 votes in favour, to a round of applause. It is
the first resolution the Security Council has adopted on Israel and the
Palestinians in nearly eight years.

The US decision to abstain was a relatively rare step by Washington,
which usually shields Israel from such action.

The US abstention was seen as a parting shot at policy by US President
Barack Obama, who has had an acrimonious relationship with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and who has made settlements a major target
of peace efforts that have proven ultimately futile.

The resolution demanded that Israel "immediately and completely cease
all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem" and said the establishment of settlements by
Israel had "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under
international law".

'US has abandoned Israel'

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz responded saying the US had
abandoned Israel by abstaining.

"This is not a resolution against settlements, it is an anti-Israel
resolution, against the Jewish people and the state of the Jews. The
United States tonight has simply abandoned its only friend in the Middle
East," Mr Steinitz, who is close to Mr Netanyahu, told local media.

Mr Trump tweeted shortly after the decision, addressing the UN. External
Link: @realDonaldTrump: "As to the UN, things will be different after
Jan 20th"

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the resolution
was a blow to Israeli policy.

"The Security Council resolution is a big blow to Israeli policy, a
unanimous international condemnation of settlements and a strong support
for the two-state solution," spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said in a
statement.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat said an end to Israeli
settlements marked "a day of victory".

"This is a day of victory for international law, a victory for civilized
language and negotiation and a total rejection of extremist forces in
Israel," he told Reuters.

A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United
States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted.

The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and
East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war.

Israel disputes that settlements are illegal and says their final status
should be determined in talks on Palestinian statehood. The last round
of US-led peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in
2014.

The passage of the resolution changes nothing on the ground between
Israel and the Palestinians and likely will be all but ignored by the
incoming Trump administration.

More than a symbolic move

The resolution formally enshrined the international community's
disapproval of Israeli settlement building and could spur further
Palestinian moves against Israel in international forums.

Mr Trump, who called for a veto along with Mr Netanyahu, is likely to be
a more staunch supporter of Mr Netanyahu's right-wing policies. He named
a hardline pro-Israel ambassador and vowed to move the US Embassy from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

A senior Israeli official said on Thursday if adopted there was "zero
chance" the Israeli Government would abide by the measure.

Under the UN Charter, UN member states "agree to accept and carry out
the decisions of the Security Council".

"It was to be expected that Israel's greatest ally would act in
accordance with the values that we share and that they would have vetoed
this disgraceful resolution," Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny
Danon, said after the vote.

"I have no doubt that the new US administration and the incoming UN
secretary-general will usher in a new era in terms of the UN's
relationship with Israel."

Wires

(2) Zionist Organization of America brands UNSC Resolution "anti-Semitic"
http://zoa.org/2016/12/10346745-zoa-urges-veto-of-disgraceful-anti-israel-un-resolution-on-jewish-communities-2/

ZOA Urges Veto of Disgraceful Anti-Israel UN Resolution on Jewish
Communities

December 22, 2016

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein issued
the following urgent statement:

ZOA urges President Obama and UN Ambassador Samantha Power to veto the
(now postponed) anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, anti-peace, racist resolution
that the UN Security Council (UNSC) had initially planned to vote on
today.   The proposed resolution would make all of the Jewish
communities in Judea/Samaria and eastern Jerusalem in the lawful,
millennia-old Jewish homeland suddenly "have no legal validity" and "a
flagrant violation" of international law; would require Israel to halt
construction in these areas; makes false statements about international
law; falsely claims that these Jewish communities are a "major
obstacle"; calls on all nations to discriminate against Jewish
communities in Judea/Samaria and eastern Jerusalem; and would require
Israel to return to indefensible 1949 Armistice lines (misleadingly
called "1967 borders").

ZOA praises President-elect Donald Trump for condemning the anti-Israel
UNSC resolution, and the President-elect’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador
to Israel David Friedman for working relentlessly to try to stop this
anti-Israel resolution.

For the following reasons, the proposed resolution must be vetoed – and
Congress and President-elect Trump should declare that they will end all
funding to the UN and Palestinian Authority ("PA") if the resolution
comes to a vote and passes:

   The proposed resolution drastically changes U.S. policy and harms the
peaceful transition to the new U.S. administration: Failing to veto the
proposed resolution would dramatically change and destabilize U.S. and
international law and policy, and thus would violate President Obama’s
pledge to assure a peaceful transition to the incoming Trump
administration.

As Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon accurately said, the proposed
UNSC resolution "will do nothing to promote a diplomatic process, and
will only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror."

As liberal Democrat Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz noted when a
similar resolution was proposed in 2011:  "the real reason the U.S.
should veto this ill-conceived resolution is that it is inconsistent
with U.S. policy, which has long advocated a negotiated resolution of
the Palestinian-Israeli dispute."  ("The U.N. Gangs Up On Israel –
Again," by Alan Dershowitz, Wall Street J’nal, Jan. 26, 2011.) [...]

(3) J Street welcomes the resolution; AIPAC 'deeply disturbed' by
Obama's failure to veto

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/.premium-1.761051

Monday, December 26, 2016.

UNSC Resolution on Israeli Settlements Sends Shockwaves Through U.S.
Jewish Community

J Street welcomes the resolution, which 'reaffirms the need for a
two-state solution'; AIPAC 'deeply disturbed' by Obama's failure to veto
motion; ZOA president: Trump may reconsider UN funding.

   Dec 24, 2016 8:12 PM Taly Krupkin (New York)

The UN Security Council resolution against the Israeli settlements sent
waves of surprise and shock through American Jewish organizations across
the ...

"By supporting this anti-Semitic and racist resolution he has shown that
he supports the Hamas-Abbas terrorist authority. And has sympathy and [...]

{can someone please send me the full article? - Ed.}

(4) Netanyahu & Trump pressured Egypt to withdraw resolution; then other
countries put it

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/world/middleeast/israel-settlements-un-vote.html

U.S. Abstains as U.N. Security Council Votes to Condemn Israeli Settlements

By SOMINI SENGUPTA and RICK GLADSTONEDEC. 23, 2016

UNITED NATIONS — Defying extraordinary pressure from President-elect
Donald J. Trump and furious lobbying by Israel, the Obama administration
on Friday allowed the United Nations Security Council to adopt a
resolution that condemned Israeli settlement construction.

The administration’s decision not to veto the measure broke a
longstanding American policy of serving as Israel’s sturdiest diplomatic
shield at the United Nations.

While the measure will have no practical impact on the ground, it was
regarded as a major rebuff to Israel that could increase its isolation
over the paralyzed peace process with the Palestinians, who have sought
to establish their own state on territory held by Israel.

Applause broke out in the 15-member Security Council’s chambers
following the vote on the measure, which passed 14-0, with the United
States abstaining.

The vote came a day after Mr. Trump personally intervened to keep the
measure, proposed by Egypt, from coming up for a vote on Thursday, as
scheduled. Mr. Trump’s aides said he had spoken to the Israeli prime
minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Both men also spoke to the Egyptian
president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Egypt postponed the vote.

But in a show of mounting frustration, four other countries on the
Security Council — Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal and Venezuela — all of
them relatively powerless temporary members with rotating two-year
seats, snatched the resolution away from Egypt and put it up for a vote
Friday afternoon.

The departing Obama administration has been highly critical of Israel’s
settlement building, describing it as an impediment to a two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Trump has made clear
that he will take a far more sympathetic approach to Israel when his
administration assumes office in a month. Photo Construction at an
Israeli settlement in the West Bank in 2015. Credit Tomas Munita for The
New York Times

Mr. Trump’s comments on the issue amounted to his most direct
intervention on United States foreign policy during his transition to power.

The United States ambassador, Samantha Power, portrayed the abstention
as consistent with the American disapproval of settlement-building, but
she also criticized countries at the United Nations for treating Israel
unfairly. She said the United States remained committed to its
"steadfast support" for Israel and reminded the council that Israel
received an enormous amount of American military aid.

Ms. Power said the United States chose not to veto the resolution, as it
had done to a similar measure under Mr. Obama in 2011, because
settlement building had accelerated so much that it had put the
two-state solution in jeopardy, and because the peace process had gone
nowhere.

"Today the Security Council reaffirmed its established consensus that
settlements have no legal validity," she said. "The United States has
been sending a message that settlements must stop privately and publicly
for nearly five decades."

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, who had urged
the American delegation to block the measure, expressed his
disappointment in a statement that looked forward to a change in policy
under Mr. Trump.

"It was to be expected that Israel’s greatest ally would act in
accordance with the values that we share and that they would have vetoed
this disgraceful resolution," he said.

The resolution condemned Israeli housing construction in East Jerusalem
and the occupied West Bank as a "flagrant violation under international
law" that was "dangerously imperiling the viability" of a future peace
settlement establishing a Palestinian state.

The resolution also includes a nod to Israel and its backers by
condemning "all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of
terror, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction."
That language is diplomatic scolding aimed at Palestinian leaders, whom
Israel accuses of encouraging attacks on Israeli civilians.

(5) Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish organizations condems the
Resolution
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/UN-Security-Council-passes-anti-settlement-resolution-US-abstains-476360

UN Security Council passes anti-settlement resolution, US abstains

By DANIELLE ZIRI

12/23/2016 21:24

It is the first resolution the Security Council has adopted on Israel
and the Palestinians in nearly eight years. (U.N. Security Council
passes resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building)

NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council voted on Friday to adopt
a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity as illegal, and
demanding that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement
activities in the 'occupied' Palestinian territory, including east
Jerusalem".

Fourteen out of the 15 voting members of the Council voted in favor of
the resolution, none voted against it, and the United States chose to
abstain instead of casting its veto on the initiative.

The vote was originally scheduled to take place on Thursday, but in a
dramatic turn of events, Egypt, which had introduced the draft
resolution, withdrew it just hours before it was due to be considered at
the Security Council, as President-elect Donald Trump came out squarely
against it, saying the resolution "should be vetoed"

"As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis
and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between
the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United
Nations. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position, and is
extremely unfair to all Israelis," Trump said in a statement.

For several months, as the possibility of an anti-settlement resolution
was being discussed, the question remained whether or not President
Barack Obama – an ardent opponent of the settlements – will use the US
veto in the Security Council to shield Israel from it. In the days
before the vote, there was a sense in Jerusalem that he would not do so.

That sense was broadcast by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who
tweeted on Thursday that "the US should veto the anti-Israel
resolution," and issued an even sharper statement again just before the
Egyptians announced that they were pulling back the resolution.

"Israelis deeply appreciate one of the great pillars of the US-Israel
alliance: the willingness over many years for the US to stand up in the
UN and veto anti-Israel resolutions," he said. "I hope the US won’t
abandon this policy; I hope it will abide by the principles set by
President Obama himself in his speech in the UN in 2011: that peace will
come not through UN resolutions, but only through direct negotiations
between the parties."

In her speech to the Council following the vote, US Ambassador to the UN
Samantha Power justified the US decision by explaining that it is in
line with the bipartisan US views regarding the settlements for decades.

However, she explained the US isn’t supporting the text because it
focuses "too narrowly" on settlements, maintaining that if every single
settlement dismantled, it would still not guarantee peace.

Power also spoke of Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements in favor of the
settlements, but also of the two state solution saying they are
"irreconcilable".

"One has to make a choice between settlements and separation," she said.

However, she said, Friday’s vote was "not straightforward" for the US
because of its venue, the United Nations.

"For as long as Israel has been a member of UN, it has been treated
differently," she told the Council.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon responded harshly
to the American decision and stated that "neither the Security Council
nor UNESCO can sever the tie between the people of Israel and the land
of Israel."

"It was to be expected that Israel's greatest ally would act in
accordance with the values that we share and that they would have vetoed
this disgraceful resolution," he said. "I have no doubt that the new US
administration and the incoming UN Secretary General will usher in a new
era in terms of the UN's relationship with Israel."

During his speech to the Security Council, Danon pointed fingers at the
member states.

"This is a dark day for this Council," he said. "The resolution you just
voted on is the peak of hypocrisy. While thousands are being massacred
in Syria, this Council wasted valuable time and efforts, condemning the
democratic State of Israel for building homes in the historic homeland
of the Jewish people."

"By voting yes in favor of this resolution, you have in fact voted no,"
he continued. "you voted no to negotiations, you voted no to progress
and a chance for better lives for Israelis and Palestinians, and you
voted no to the possibility of peace."

Danon also called on the Council to "take this opportunity to turn a new
page, put an end to the bias and obsession with Israel, stop this
endless attempt to blame all the problems of the Middle East, on the one
true democracy in the region."

Following Friday’s outcome, many Jewish Organizations from across the
political spectrum, who had strongly pushed and advocated for the US to
veto the resolution, also expressed their disappointment that the US
chose to abstain.

The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish organizations said it
deeply regrets and rejects the US move.

"There is no justification or explanation that validates the United
States failure to veto the one-sided, offensive resolution adopted by
the Security Council today," the organization wrote. "The United States
vote will be seen as a betrayal of the fundamentals of the special
relationship that will nevertheless continue to mark the close ties
between the peoples of the two countries."

The American Jewish Council CEO David Harris too said he is "deeply
disappointed that the United States chose to abstain on a UN Security
Council resolution today which singled out Israel for condemnation."

"The Administration’s decision, for the first time in eight years, not
to block an anti-Israel measure at the UN Security Council is profoundly
disturbing," he said. "It only encourages diplomatic end-runs and
diversionary tactics, which hinder rather than advance the prospects for
peace."

"Moreover, this measure repeats the Palestinian falsehood that Israeli
settlements constitute the core of the conflict," Harris added. "Let’s
be clear: The chief obstacle to achieving peace is, and long has been,
the steadfast refusal of the Palestinian leadership to recognize
Israel’s legitimacy and negotiate in earnest a comprehensive agreement.
Security Council members that supported the resolution are not helping
the cause of peace by their failure to hold the Palestinians accountable
for their chronic short-sightedness and inaction."

Herb Keinon and Reuters contributed to this report.

(6) Sen. Chuck Schumer & World Jewish Congress urged a Veto

http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/358205/sen-chuck-schumer-world-jewish-congress-urge-veto-of-un-anti-settlement-res/

Sen. Chuck Schumer, World Jewish Congress Urge Veto of UN
Anti-Settlement Resolution

Cnaan Liphshiz

December 23, 2016

(JTA) — The World Jewish Congress joined calls by lawmakers in Israel
and the United States, including incoming Senate Minority Leader Charles
Schumer, urging the Obama administration to veto an anti-settlement
resolution at the U.N. Security Council.

The WJC statement Friday by its president, Ronald Lauder, followed
vigorous lobbying for a veto in Jerusalem and by President-elect Donald
Trump on Thursday and Friday. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu called on President Barack Obama to veto the draft resolution
submitted by Egypt in coordination with the Palestinians, which called
settlements "a flagrant violation of international law" that damaged the
prospects of two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Following a telephone conversation between Trump and Egyptian President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt put the draft resolution on hold. But four
Security Council member states, New Zealand, Venezuela, Malaysia and
Senegal, said they would submit their own draft resolution amid
speculation that Obama intended to let it pass if brought to a vote Friday.

"We urge the United States, Israel’s greatest ally, to veto this text,"
Lauder wrote in reference to the later draft. "It is counterproductive,
and does nothing to enhance the role of the United Nations in resolving
the Middle East conflict."

Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement Friday that he spoke directly with
the administration several times, as recently as that morning, "and in
the strongest terms possible urged them to veto this resolution."

"Whatever one’s views are on settlements, anyone who cares about the
future of Israel and peace in the region knows that the U.N., with its
one sidedness, is exactly the wrong forum to bring about peace," he wrote.

The junior senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, also a Democrat,
wrote in a statement: "I call on the Administration to do everything in
its power to make sure this resolution is not put forward or passed."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., wrote in a statement sent out by his office:
"Unilateral resolutions of this kind do not advance the cause of peace,
and I would urge the Administration to make every effort to oppose its
being brought forward and make it clear that it will veto the measure if
necessary."

Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., backed the veto calls, adding he would work in a
bipartisan fashion to reduce U.S. funding to the United Nations should
the draft resolution pass.

According to The Times of Israel, Israeli officials were furious that
the Obama administration allegedly was going to allow the vote to pass.
The news site quoted someone described as "an Israeli official" as
saying: "President Obama and Secretary [of State John] Kerry are behind
this shameful move against Israel at the U.N."

Neither Trump’s team nor Egyptian officials would reveal the contents of
the talk between the president-elect and al-Sisi. Both Trump and
Netanyahu took to social networks to call for a U.S. veto.

On Facebook, Trump wrote that the Egyptian draft resolution should be
vetoed.

"As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis
and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between
the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United
Nations. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is
extremely unfair to all Israelis," he wrote.

And Netanyahu wrote on Twitter: "The U.S. should veto the anti-Israel
resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday," referring to the
Egyptian text. It was an unusually public appeal regarding an issue that
is usually coordinated between the two allies behind closed doors,
suggesting that Netanyahu was not certain that the United States under
Obama would indeed veto.

Israel approached the Trump campaign after it felt that it had failed to
persuade the Obama administration to veto the planned vote, an Israeli
official told CNN. The official said that Israel "implored the White
House not to go ahead and told them that if they did, we would have no
choice but to reach out to President-elect Trump."

The United States has long complained of anti-Israel bias at the United
Nations.

Under Obama, Washington also publicly criticized Israeli construction in
the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and all other lands captured by Israel
in 1967 as detrimental to the two-state solution for the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

(7) AIPAC & the Jewish Council for Public Affairs urged Obama to Veto
the Resolution
http://www.jta.org/2016/12/23/news-opinion/united-states/world-jewish-congress-more-us-lawmakers-join-call-for-veto-of-un-anti-settlement-resolution

Call for veto of UN anti-settlement resolution grows stronger

December 23, 2016 1:10pm

(JTA) — A growing list of Jewish groups and U.S. lawmakers joined the
call urging the Obama administration to veto an anti-settlement
resolution at the U.N. Security Council.

The World Jewish Congress, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs joined incoming Senate
Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and other lawmakers in urging
the administration to veto the resolution expected to come up for a vote
on Friday afternoon.

The resolution, which calls Israeli settlements "a flagrant violation of
international law" that damage the prospects of a two-state solution to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was introduced by Egypt in
coordination with the Palestinians. Amid growing pressure from Israel
and President-elect Donald Trump, Egypt put the resolution on hold on
Thursday. On Friday, four Security Council member states — New Zealand,
Venezuela, Malaysia and Senegal — said they would submit their own draft
resolution amid speculation that President Barack Obama intended to let
it pass.

"We urge the United States, Israel’s greatest ally, to veto this text,"
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said in a statement
Friday. "It is counterproductive, and does nothing to enhance the role
of the United Nations in resolving the Middle East conflict."

Schumer said in a statement Friday that he spoke directly with the
administration several times, as recently as that morning, "and in the
strongest terms possible urged them to veto this resolution."

"Whatever one’s views are on settlements, anyone who cares about the
future of Israel and peace in the region knows that the U.N., with its
one sidedness, is exactly the wrong forum to bring about peace," he wrote.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Jewish Council for
Public Affairs both released statements Friday urging the administration
to veto the resolution.

"All those who support a peaceful resolution to the conflict should
oppose this resolution," said David Bernstein, JCPA’s president. "If the
Palestinians feel that the UN will deliver Israel for them, why would
they negotiate?"

The junior senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, also a Democrat,
wrote in a statement: "I call on the Administration to do everything in
its power to make sure this resolution is not put forward or passed."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., wrote in a statement sent out by his office:
"Unilateral resolutions of this kind do not advance the cause of peace,
and I would urge the Administration to make every effort to oppose its
being brought forward and make it clear that it will veto the measure if
necessary."

Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., backed the veto calls, adding he would work in a
bipartisan fashion to reduce U.S. funding to the United Nations should
the draft resolution pass. [...]

(8) Israel ends aid programs, orders ambassadors home after UNSC
condemnation of settlements

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-24/israel-ends-aid-programs-after-un-security-council-vote/8146840

Israel's Prime Minister has taken diplomatic action against the
countries that co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution condemning
Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Key points

     Benjamin Netanyahu cancels aid to co-sponsors of Security Council
resolution

     Resolution condemns Israeli settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem

     Donald Trump promises 'things will be different' when he takes office

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced the steps a few
hours after the United States broke with past practice and chose not to
veto the measure.

The resolution was put forward at the 15-member council for a vote by
New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal a day after Egypt withdrew
it under pressure from Israel and President-elect Donald Trump, who
pushed for a veto.

The resolution demanded that Israel "immediately and completely cease
all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory,
including East Jerusalem" and said the establishment of settlements by
Israel had "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under
international law".

Mr Netanyahu ordered Israel's ambassadors in New Zealand and Senegal to
immediately return home for consultations.

He also instructed the Foreign Ministry to end all aid programs for
Senegal and to cancel a planned visit to Israel by the Senegalese
foreign minister.

Shortly after the measures were announced, Israel's UN ambassador called
the Security Council's vote "a victory for terror".

Danny Danon told the council after the 14-0 vote the resolution was full
of "lies" and will be added "to the long and shameful list of
anti-Israel UN resolutions".

"By voting 'yes' in favour of this resolution, you have in fact voted
'no'. You voted 'no' to negotiations. You voted 'no' to progress, and a
chance for better lives for Israelis and Palestinians. And you voted
'no' to the possibility of peace," he said.

New era for Israel's relations with US, UN?

Under the UN Charter, UN member states "agree to accept and carry out
the decisions of the Security Council".

Mr Danon said the council was "sending a message to the Palestinians
that they should continue on the path of terrorism and incitement".

     "I have no doubt that the new US administration and the incoming UN
secretary-general will usher in a new era in terms of the UN's
relationship with Israel," he said.

Mr Danon urged incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make
clear to the Palestinians the only way forward is "to end incitement and
terror and to enter meaningful negotiations with Israel".

Mr Guterres takes office January 1, replacing incumbent Ban Ki-moon.

Mr Ban called the resolution a "significant step" to reconfirm the
vision of a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

He said the vote demonstrated the Security Council's "much needed
leadership and the international community's collective efforts" that
are critical to demonstrate a two-state solution where Israel and the
Palestinians live side by side in peace "is still achievable".

But Mr Netanyahu said, "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 US abstention was seen as a parting shot at policy by US President
Barack Obama, who has made settlements a major target of peace efforts
that have ultimately failed.

Shortly after the vote Mr Trump tweeted "things will be different" with
the UN after his inauguration.

Mr Trump is likely to be a more staunch supporter of Mr Netanyahu's
right-wing policies. He named a hard-line pro-Israel ambassador and
vowed to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour said the resolution "is
significant after years of paralysis" and a step toward addressing "a
70-year open wound" that has prevented peace and stability in the region.

The resolution demands an immediate halt to Israeli settlement building,
and Mr Mansour said that will require "vigilant follow-up if it is to be
meaningful, to stem further deterioration and salvage the two-state
solution from relegation to history's archives".

He urged the council to "stand firm by this decision" and "not be cowed
by negative threats or spin".

The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and
East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war.

Israel disputes that settlements are illegal and says their final status
should be determined in talks on Palestinian statehood. The last round
of US-led peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in
2014.

Wires

(9) Israel reconsiders its U.N. membership & funding after Settlement
resolution

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-un-idUSKBN14C1IV

Sat Dec 24, 2016 | 2:46pm EST

Israel to re-assess U.N. ties after settlement resolution, says Netanyahu

U.S. abstains from UN vote to end Israeli settlement building

01:40

Israel will re-assess its ties with the United Nations following the
adoption by the Security Council of a resolution demanding an end to
Israeli settlement building, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on
Saturday.

The vote was able to pass the 15-member council on Friday because the
United States broke with a long-standing approach of diplomatically
shielding Israel and did not wield its veto power as it had on many
times before - a decision that Netanyahu called "shameful".

"I instructed the Foreign Ministry to complete within a month a
re-evaluation of all our contacts with the United Nations, including the
Israeli funding of U.N. institutions and the presence of U.N.
representatives in Israel," Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks.

"I have already instructed to stop about 30 million shekels ($7.8
million) in funding to five U.N. institutions, five bodies, that are
especially hostile to Israel ... and there is more to come," he said.

The Israeli leader did not name the institutions or offer any further
details.

Defying heavy pressure from long-time ally Israel and President-elect
Donald Trump for Washington to use its veto, the United States abstained
in the Security Council decision, which passed with 14 votes in favor.

Israel for decades has pursued a policy of constructing Jewish
settlements on territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war with its Arab
neighbors including the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Most countries view Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel disagrees,
citing a biblical connection to the land.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

(10) Obama branded a Jew hating anti-Semite after UN Resolution

http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/358231/j-street-welcomes-un-resolution-on-israel-settlements/

J Street Welcomes UN Resolution on Israel Settlements

Forward Staff and JTA

December 23, 2016

Liberal American groups welcomed the UN security council resolution on
Israeli settlements while mainstream pro-Israel groups blasted the U.S.
for allowing it to pass.

J Street, the dovish pro-Israel lobby, welcomed the resolution.

"The resolution is consistent with longstanding bipartisan American
policy, which includes strong support for the two-state solution, and
clear opposition to irresponsible and damaging actions, including
Palestinian incitement and terror and Israeli settlement expansion and
home demolitions," J Street said.

The American Jewish Committee in a statement Friday said it was "deeply
disappointed that the United States chose to abstain on a U.N. Security
Council resolution today which singled out Israel for condemnation."

Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, slammed
the decision. The New York Post quoted him saying "Obama has made it
clear that he’s a Jew hating, anti-Semite. He likes Jews who are his
friends but not Jews in general."