Netanyahu told the crowd that he was there to comfort everyone following the UN's decision.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: DECEMBER 25, 2016 10:27Netanyahu: Israel to reassess UN ties after settlement vote
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his first comments since Friday's UN Security Council vote, Saturday night at a ceremony celebrating the first night of Hanukkah.Netanyahu told the crowd that he was there to comfort everyone following the UN's decision.The decision was "shameful," the Prime Minister repeated multiple times."The Security Council decision calls Israeli land occupied and that is just shameful, the decision calls the Western Wall occupied land, it is shameful," Netanyahu said. Speaking of US President Barak Obama's choice to abstain from voting, Netanyahu said that Obama went against Israel, backing out of the commitment it had made to stand for Israel."The decision not only does not help us make peace, it stands in the way of peace," stated Netanyahu.The premier continued, speaking of the current civil war in Syria, question why of all the current problems happening in the middle east, the security council chose to pick on the only democracy in the region.Israel will not accept the decision and it will be cancelled, he stated, though it may take time. He also stated that Israel would stop funding UN institutions.Netanyahu has instructed Israel's ambassadors in New Zealand and Senegal to return to Israel for consultations, his spokesman said on Friday, in response to a UN resolution on settlements.The United Nations Security Council voted on Friday to adopt a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity as illegal, and demanding that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the 'occupied' Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem".
Fourteen out of the 15 voting members of the Council voted in favor of the resolution, none voted against it, and the United States chose to abstain instead of casting its veto on the initiative.The vote was originally scheduled to take place on Thursday, but in a dramatic turn of events, Egypt, which had introduced the draft resolution, withdrew it just hours before it was due to be considered at the Security Council, as President-elect Donald Trump came out squarely against it, saying the resolution “should be vetoed.”Danielle Ziri and Reuters contributed to this report.