This article appeared in the Citizen on 26th Dec 2016
The United Nations has voted 14-0 to demanding Israel to halt settlements on Palestinian land.
The US declined to veto the resolution in a rare decision. It defended its decision to refrain from vetoing the resolution arguing that the step was taken only “after all negotiating options to pursue a two-state solution were exhausted”.
Expectedly, Donald Trump slammed the abstention with disdain for international democracy and suggested “things will be different after Jan 20th”. Washington’s abstention is a huge rebuke to Israel, which has traditionally been a staunch US ally, and had demanded a veto along with Trump.
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