J Street Welcomes UN Resolution on Israel Settlements — AIPAC Denounces It
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Liberal American groups welcomed the UN security council resolution on Israeli settlements while mainstream pro-Israel groups blasted the U.S. for allowing it to pass.
J Street, the dovish pro-Israel lobby, welcomed the resolution.
“The resolution is consistent with longstanding bipartisan American policy, which includes strong support for the two-state solution, and clear opposition to irresponsible and damaging actions, including Palestinian incitement and terror and Israeli settlement expansion and home demolitions,” J Street said.
The American Jewish Committee in a statement Friday said it was “deeply disappointed that the United States chose to abstain on a U.N. Security Council resolution today which singled out Israel for condemnation.”
AIPAC, is on the flip side of the issue, saying in a statement that it is “deeply disturbed by the failure of the Obama Administration to exercise its veto to prevent a destructive, one-sided, anti-Israel resolution from being enacted by the United Nations Security Council. “AIPAC expresses its appreciation to President-elect Trump and the many Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who urged a veto of this resolution,” the statement said.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, commented on the U.S. decision not to veto the resolution, saying “The passage of the resolution today is shameful and I think they will come to regret it in the future. It is just going to embolden those who do not want a peace process.” “Despite all the good,” Hoenlein added, “this will become the legacy of President Obama, and the U.S.-Israeli relations.”
The Jewish Federations of North America declared it “tragic” that the U.S. administration had chosen “to mar its legacy of support for the Jewish State and set back the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace” by abstaining in the vote on a resolution it described as “one-sided” and “anti-Israel.”
“The administration’s decision,” its said in a statement, “undermined a core principle of American foreign policy that has been embraced by Democratic and Republican Administrations for decades: that the only route to a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is through direct negotiations between the parties.”
The Anti-Defamation League said it “condemned the passage” of the resolution and that it was “outraged with the U.S. failure to veto” it.
B’nai B’rith International joined the anti-resolution chorus, saying that it is “dismayed” that the UNSC adopted a motion “reiterating the erroneous position that Jewish settlements are a primary obstacle to Middle East peace.”
Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, slammed the decision. The New York Post quoted him saying “Obama has made it clear that he’s a Jew hating, anti-Semite. He likes Jews who are his friends but not Jews in general.”—With JTA and Haaretz
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