The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday calling for the repeal of a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements that the United States allowed to pass last month by abstaining from the vote.
The motion passed 342 to 80 on Thursday described last month’s resolution as “an obstacle to Israel-Palestinian peace” and was a rebuke to President Barack Obama’s approach to the US-Israel relationship.
It noted that the Obama administration’s decision to abstain – and not veto – the Security Council resolution “undermined” Washington’s decades-long policy of shielding Israel at the UN.
“Today we put Congress on record objecting to the recent U.N. Security Council resolution that hurt our ally” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said.
Last month the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution which states that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 have no legal validity constitute a flagrant violation under international law and are a major obstacle to a two-State solution and a comprehensive peace.
The adoption of the resolution prompted debate and political posturing based on the fact that the United States did not veto the resolution.
