US government behind UN resolution of declaring Israel’s settlements illegal: Benjamin Netanyahu

TEL AVIV: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up his broadside at the US government after the UN Security Council declared Israel’s settlements illegal, saying President Barack Obama’s administration "initiated and stood behind" the resolution.

Netanyahu said Obama broke a long-standing US commitment not to allow the UN to impose conditions on Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians. Resolution 2334, which passed Friday by a 14-0 vote with the US abstaining, demands that Israel cease construction in all areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and describes the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory.

"We will do all we can to make sure Israel won’t be harmed by this shameful resolution," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, calling the bill "unbalanced and extremely hostile to the State of Israel".

The resolution calls on member states to differentiate between territories inside and outside the pre-1967 lines in their dealings with Israel. While the immediate practical impact is unclear — the resolution is declaratory but not binding on member states — it could strengthen the movement to boycott or sanction Israel and open the door for more lawsuits against Israel in international bodies.

The EU already requires goods produced in Israeli settlements to be labelled distinctly from those made in Israel, allowing consumers to avoid them more easily. The US abstention highlighted the increasingly strained relationship between Obama and Netanyahu.

The Security Council vote came in the waning weeks of Obama’s presidency, as Israel looks forward to warmer relations with Presidentelect Donald Trump, who had pressured Obama to veto the resolution in an unusual breach of transition protocol.