The Drudge Report headline read, “OBAMA BACKSTABS ISRAEL.”
The New York Post titled their editorial on the subject, “Obama’s appalling UN betrayal.”
It happened on the Friday afternoon before a Sunday Christmas. The United States allowed passage of a UN Security Council resolution that condemned Israel’s settlements and, in effect, proclaimed that every bit of land beyond the 1967 borders already belongs to the Palestinians. That includes East Jerusalem with the Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall.
The original resolution had been sponsored by Egypt and scheduled for a vote on Thursday the 22nd. But a phone call from President-elect Trump to Egyptian President el Sisi convinced Egypt to withdraw the resolution from consideration. Trump persuaded Sisi that the new U.S. Administration should be given the opportunity to work on the problem without such a constraint.
Then on Friday the 23rd, New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal jointly sponsored the same resolution. Any of the permanent members of the Security Council — Russia, the UK, France, China, or the US — could have vetoed it. The Council voted 14-0 in favor of the resolution. The United States chose abstention.
The best chance for peace clearly lies with the next U.S. Administration. After all, this one only has three weeks left in office. Egypt recognized this, and decided not to harm the incoming Administration’s efforts toward peace. But President Obama and his team seem intent on undermining the Trump team’s ability to get the job done.
Think about this. They say they want peace. They know it will not come during their time in office. But instead of supporting the next Administration’s efforts, they throw a bomb in the mix.
It gets worse. Israeli officials blame President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry for behind-the-scenes maneuvers to bring the resolution before the Council in the first place. When Egypt wisely decided to pull back, the U.S. made sure other sponsors took up the cause. Israeli officials say they have “ironclad information” proving the U.S. government’s involvement. They say they will present their proof to the new Administration, and let it decide whether to make that data available to the public.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “The Obama administration not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN, it colluded with it behind the scenes.”
One Israeli official said, “President Obama and Secretary Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the UN. The U.S administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti-Israeli resolution behind Israel’s back which would be a tail wind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory.”
Ron Dermer, Israeli ambassador to the United States told CNN’s Jake Tapper, “The Palestinians want… to wage a diplomatic and legal war against Israel. They don’t want to negotiate peace. You know why? Because when you’re negotiating a peace there’s give and take. What they want is take and take. And the way that you do that is to try to internationalize the conflict, to put more and more pressure on Israel, to call for boycotts and sanctions, to take our soldiers to the international court, something they’re already calling for.”
It’s important to understand that, unlike many UN resolutions, this one carries real world consequences. It puts peace even further out of reach. Ambassador Dermer said, “The one negotiating chip that we have at the peace table is that territory. If the UN Security Council says that that territory actually belongs to the Palestinians — which it does not and which we reject — that’s going to make actually achieving peace much harder.”
Washington usually lines up according to party. But not this time. Both Republicans and Democrats are condemning the Administration’s actions. For instance, Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, tweeted, “Extremely frustrating, disappointing & confounding that the Administration has failed to veto the UN resolution.”
Bob Casey, Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, tweeted, “Resolutions like the one offered at the UN Security Council this week have the potential to move peace further from our reach.”
Republicans used stronger words in condemning the Democratic Administration. House Speaker Paul Ryan said, “This is absolutely shameful.” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, John McCain, called it an “outrageous attack” on Israel.
Senator Lindsey Graham said the abstention “empowers evil.” Graham, who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, which deals with foreign aid, threatened to reduce U.S. contributions to the UN and to any country that voted for the resolution. But even with that kind of leverage, getting the Security Council to back down from this awful resolution would take a miracle.
The worst may be yet to come. Washington, New York, and Jerusalem are rife with rumors that the Obama Administration is planning an even more devastating Security Council resolution before Donald Trump’s inauguration. The rumors say that, with the next resolution, the Council will impose sanctions.
Remember, that in Genesis 12:3, God promised to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.” (NASB)
President Obama is causing America to tread on very thin ice.