BREAKING NEWS

Netanyahu defends response to UN Security Council settlement vote

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved from an offensive to defensive posture on Monday regarding the UN Security Council vote, rebuffing criticism that his angry response was too aggressive and saying that Israel will not “turn the other cheek.”
During an event in Ma'alot, Netanyahu said he read criticism in the morning's papers of his aggressive responses to the vote. This response included recalling Israel's ambassador to Senegal and New Zealand, summoning in for protests the ambassadors and representatives of all the UN Security Council states, cancelling the scheduled visit this week of the Ukrainian prime minister, and calling on his ministers to curtail visits to the 14 Security Council states who voted for the measure.
“Israel is a country with national pride and we do not turn the other cheek,” he said. “This is a rational, aggressive and responsible response, the natural reaction of a healthy nation that is making clear to the nations of the world that what was done in the UN is unacceptable to it.”