UN Security Council calls for end to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory
Resolution is America's biggest rebuke to longstanding ally Israel in recent years.
THE UN Security Council has called for an end to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory - in America's biggest rebuke to its longstanding ally in recent years.
The motion was passed after the United States, which usually protects Israel from United Nations action, abstained from the vote.
A Israeli official has accused President Obama of colluding with Palestinians, describing the US decision not to veto the motion as "shameful".
The resolution, put forward by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal, had been withdrawn on Thursday under pressure from Israel and US President-elect Donald Trump.
But, after being put forward again today it was was adopted with 14 votes in favour, to a round of applause.
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It is the first resolution the Security Council has adopted on Israel and the Palestinians in nearly eight years.
The official tols Associated Press: "The U.S administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti-Israeli resolution behind Israel's back which would be a tail wind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory."
He called the move "an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN."
Although the US opposes the settlements it has traditionally protected Israel from UN motions arguing disputes should be settled by negotiation.
The resolution says Israel's settlements on Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have "no legal validity."
It demands a halt to "all Israeli settlement activities," saying this "is essential for salvaging the two-state solution."
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