Gingrich urges Congress to condemn non-veto at the UN
When Trump takes office, he must prepare ‘comprehensive offensive… to undo the damage to Israel the Obama team is inflicting,’ former House speaker says
BUFFALO, NEW YORK — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich called on Congress Monday to condemn the Obama administration for allowing an anti-settlements resolution to pass the United Nations Security Council last week.
Gingrich, a staunch supporter of President-elect Donald Trump since early in the campaign, took to Twitter to castigate the US acceptance of a measure that condemned Israeli settlements and called for a halt to all construction in areas Israel gained in the 1967 Six Day War.
The Georgia Republican accused President Barack Obama of “waging a war on Israel” and “taking steps to isolate and then kill a democracy and an ally” by having the United States abstain in the vote, enabling it to pass.
Resolution 2334 was approved Friday with 14 member states voting in favor, none voting against and one abstention — the United States. A US veto would have killed the measure.
The text, originally submitted by Cairo, calls on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem” and asks all states “to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967,” language that Israel fears will lead to a surge in boycott and sanctions efforts.
Explaining the US decision to allow the resolution through, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, told reporters Friday that the US “could not in good conscience veto” the resolution, since it was narrowly enough focused on settlements and included language critical of Palestinian incitement and terrorism.
The text, however, does not explicitly cite Palestinian behavior, although it condemns “all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction,” which some in the international community understand as attempting to make the resolution “balanced.”
Responding to the resolution’s passage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “shameful” and “scandalous,” accusing the Obama administration of colluding with other Security Council member states to push forward the measure.
He also called into question the Obama administration’s commitment to its friendship with Israel. At his weekly cabinet address Sunday, he said he told Secretary of State John Kerry that “friends don’t take friends to the Security Council.”
Congress should pass resolutions January 3-4 condemning Obama attacks on Israel and demanding he not participate in French or UNSC attacks
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 26, 2016
President-elect Trump must prepare a comprehensive offensive for Jan 29 to undo the damage to Israel the Obama team is inflicting.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 26, 2016
Why is the Obama team waging war against Israel?why are they taking steps to isolate and then kill a democracy and an ally?
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 26, 2016
Gingrich echoed the sentiment Monday, urging those on Capitol Hill to pass their own resolution on January 3 and 4, when federal lawmakers return to work, condemning the move and demanding that the Obama administration not take any further action regarding Israel during its time in office, including the upcoming French initiative.
And when Trump takes office next month, he needs to “prepare a comprehensive offensive… to undo the damage to Israel the Obama team is inflicting,” Gingrich added.
Capitol Hill’s GOP leaders may be receptive to such initiatives.
Current House speaker Paul Ryan called the resolution “absolutely shameful” and said the upcoming “unified Republican government will work to reverse the damage done by this administration,” while Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell called the US abstention “a failure of leadership and judgment” by the current president.
