House expresses disapproval of UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday night approved a measure expressing disapproval of a United Nations Security Council resolution that demands Israel immediately cease construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“This U.N. Security Council resolution … was about one thing and one thing only: Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state,” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told colleagues on the floor.

“These types of one-sided efforts are designed to isolate and delegitimize Israel. They do not advance peace, they make it more elusive.”

The measure was approved 342-80 and is widely viewed as a symbolic reaffirmation of bipartisan support for the Jewish State.

The U.N. resolution was sponsored by Egypt and was adopted two weeks ago.

Israel had requested that the Obama administration veto the resolution but the United States abstained from voting. That decision essentially guaranteed that the measure would be adopted.

Prior to the vote Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has frequently clashed with President Barack Obama over settlement construction, appealed to President-elect Donald Trump to try and convince the administration to block the resolution in the Security Council upon sensing that the White House did not intend to do so.

Trump responded with both a tweet and a statement urging the Obama administration to veto the resolution.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters on Monday in response to a question from TMN that he believes U.S.-Israel relations will greatly improve under the Trump administration. McCarthy also stated that he expected both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to support the Congressional statement expressing disapproval of the U.N. resolution.

“If you watch the vote on this resolution, I think you’ll see a very large bipartisan vote of Republicans and Democrats despite the action that President Obama took and looking at history it seems like a very odd time for the president and the U.N. to take that position and for [Secretary of State John] Kerry to give that speech after the election and days away from departing.”

Last week Secretary Kerry gave a speech defending the Obama administration’s decision to abstain from the U.N. vote and also expressed his contention that Israeli settlement construction is an impediment to the peace process.

The Senate is considering passage of a parallel statement of disapproval.

This article was republished with permission from Talk Media News