WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives passed a scathing rebuke
Thursday night to a United Nations Security Council resolution the
Obama administration allowed through last month that condemned Israeli
settlements as illegal.
House
Resolution 11 declared the UN motion a “one-sided” effort that is an
obstacle to peace, placing disproportionate blame on Israel for the
continuation of the conflict and discouraging Palestinians from engaging
in direct, bilateral negotiations.
Passed by a vote of 342-80, the measure puts
the lower chamber of Congress firmly against President Barack Obama’s
decision to withhold the US veto power from shielding Israel against the
censure.
UN Resolution 2334 says the settlement
enterprise “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation
under international law” and calls for a complete end to all
construction in areas Israel captured after the 1967 Six Day War,
including East Jerusalem.
It also calls on all states “to distinguish,
in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel
and the territories occupied since 1967” — language that Israel fears
will lead to a surge in boycott and sanctions efforts, and that an
Israeli official warned would provide “a tailwind for terror.”
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