20 Jan US Veto of UN Resolution Condemning Settlements
US Vetoes the UN Resolution with Regret
February 18, 2011 The Obama administration vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that condemned the Jewish state for housing construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. Immediately afterwards, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice expressed regret at the veto and agreement with the resolution.
“Our opposition to the resolution before this Council today should therefore not be misunderstood to mean we support settlement activity. On the contrary, we reject in the strongest terms the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity. For more than four decades, Israeli settlement activity in territories occupied in 1967 has undermined Israel’s security and corroded hopes for peace and stability in the region. Continued settlement activity violates Israel’s international commitments, devastates trust between the parties, and threatens the prospects for peace…
While we agree with our fellow Council members—and indeed, with the wider world—about the folly and illegitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity, we think it unwise for this Council to attempt to resolve the core issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians. We therefore regrettably have opposed this draft resolution.”
When a veto isn’t enough
By DANNY DANON
