After Ofra shooting U.S. diplomats point at U.N. for failing to condemn Hamas
Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, New Zealand are four 'western' states that played big part in failure to pass anti-Hamas resolution.
By HERB KEINONUpdated: DECEMBER 10, 2018 19:02Israeli security forces and emergency personnel work at the scene of what an initial report from the Israeli army said was a shooting attack, near the Israeli settlement of Ofra, in the West Bank December 9, 2018 (photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
In the wake of Sunday night’s attack at Ofra, which Hamas termed “heroic,” US Ambassador David Friedman underlined that the UN could not even get itself to condemn the terrorist organization last week.“Another vile act of #Palestinian terrorism last night included the shooting of a pregnant woman. Hamas calls the shooters “heroic” – yes, the same #Hamas that the @UN could not resolve to condemn last week. The #US stands with #Israel against terrorists even if others won’t,” Friedman wrote on Twitter on Monday.Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, also highlighted Hamas’s reaction and slammed the UN vote. In a tweet directed at the UN, he wrote: “Hamas praises yet another terror attack. You had the ability to help fight against terror. Is this what the UN wants its legacy to be?”The UN on Thursday failed to adopt an American-sponsored resolution that would have – for the first time – condemned Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.Although 87 countries supported the anti-Hamas measure – while 57 opposed and 33 abstained – the measure did not pass because the Palestinians succeeded in getting a measure passed necessitating a two-thirds majority. That measure passed by a slim three votes.Of the top 10 countries which received US foreign aid in 2018, Israel was the only country that supported the measure.Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya – which together will receive $1.6 billion in aid from the US this year – all abstained.Iraq, Nigeria, Zambia, Afghanistan, Jordan and Egypt – which will receive a total of $4.4b in US aid – all voted against.Turkey was the only one of the 29 NATO countries that voted for the measure.Two other NATO countries – Norway and Iceland – voted for the measure requiring a two-thirds majority, which received 75 votes in favor and 72 against, with 26 abstentions.
Had both those NATO countries voted against the measure – as well as two of three other “Western” nations that abstained: Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein – then a simple majority on the measure would have been all that was necessary, and the anti-Hamas resolution would have passed.On Thursday night, at a Hanukkah reception at the UN hosted by the Israeli mission that was held after the vote and failure of the General Assembly to pass the resolution, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said, “The president called and he said, ‘Nikki what happened?’ And I told him, and he goes, ‘Who do we need to get upset at? Who do you want me to yell at? Who do we take their money away?’”Haley then joked to those at the reception, “I’m not gonna tell you what I told him.”
