Report: UN Resolution on Israel Tabled

President Barack Obama planned to stab Israel in the back Thursday at the United Nations. But President-elect Donald Trump had other plans, and with some bipartisan support, a dangerous Egyptian resolution has been tabled.

According to NBC News, the resolution Egypt circulated during the late-night hours Wednesday, and which was due for a vote in a special session of the U.N. Security Council Thursday afternoon, was not going to be vetoed by the Obama Administration. Rather, the U.S. planned to abstain, which meant the measure could pass, but without official American support.

As Israel applied pressure to both Egypt and the U.S., Trump offered a sharp rebuke of the resolution, which would have stated the U.N.:

• Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution.
• Reiterates its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.
• Stresses that the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-state solution and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground that are imperiling the two-state solution.
• Underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the June 4, 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.
• Calls upon all states to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the state of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.
• Calls for immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction; calls for accountability in this regard and calls for compliance with obligations under international law for the strengthening of ongoing efforts to combat terrorism, including through existing security coordination and to clearly condemn all acts of terrorism; and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric.

Palestinians have been circulating a version of their own, which reportedly is much more strident in its anti-Israeli language. Had the vote taken place, it would have marked a wide departure from long-standing U.S. foreign policy regarding Israel, and it would have been in conflict with a Senate resolution that called for direct negotiations without preconditions.

The author of that resolution, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), has been a very vocal supporter of Obama in the past. He was outraged, however, about the news reports Thursday morning:

“The draft United Nations resolution directly contradicts the Senate resolution I authored—and passed unanimously last year—condemning Palestinian terrorism and calling on all parties to return to the negotiating table immediately and without preconditions. Direct discussions remain the best avenue to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

A petition offered by the American Center for Law & Justice, which called upon Obama and the U.N. to reject the resolution, has drawn more than a quarter of a million signatures in just a matter of hours. The group issued the following statement that accompanies the petition:

President Obama is poised to betray Israel in his final days in office.

There are reports that the administration is plotting to use the U.N. Security Council against Israel.

It’s a renewed attempt to abandon Israel, slash its borders, leave it defenseless and force our greatest ally in the Middle East to make dangerous concessions to terrorists before negotiations even begin.

Palestinian terrorists have launched over 300 attacks on Israelis—literally stabbing women and children in the back—murdering Israeli civilians and American citizens.

We must not force Israel into talks with terrorists.

We’re mobilizing our office in Jerusalem. We’re preparing critical legal letters, documents and filings at the U.N., in Congress and with the Obama administration. Add your name today.

Christians United for Israel issued its own statement about the matter: “While nations and organization may attack and de-legitimize the state of Israel and the Jewish people, let it be known that the defender of Israel is greater than all those who stand against Israel. He is the one that scattered Pharaoh’s armies and allowed Israeli to be reborn against overwhelming odds.” {eoa}