Jewish Organizations Condemn U.S. Abstention at Security Council

(Times of Israel) Rebecca Shimoni Stoil - Major U.S. Jewish organizations declared that President Obama had undermined his legacy on Israel and bitterly criticized the administration's decision to allow a resolution calling for a halt to all Israeli settlement activity to pass in the UN Security Council. The leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Chairman Stephen M. Greenberg and CEO Malcolm Hoenlein, wrote, "There is no justification or explanation that validates the United States failure to veto the one-sided, offensive resolution adopted by the Security Council....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 Jewish Federations of North America wrote, "It is tragic that the Administration chose to mar its legacy of support for the Jewish State and set back the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace....The Administration's decision undermined a core principle of American foreign policy that has been embraced by Democratic and Republican Administrations for decades: that the only route to a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is through direct negotiations between the parties." American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris called the Administration's decision "profoundly disturbing.... Encouraging the misguided Palestinian strategy of doing everything possible to avoid Israel, while accumulating hostile statements against Israel at the UN and other international organizations, has been counterproductive to achieving a sustainable peace that will benefit both Israelis and Palestinians." Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said the ADL was "outraged over the U.S. failure to veto this biased and unconstructive UNSC resolution on Israel."


2016-12-25 00:00:00

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