Democratic senator holds up resolution slamming UN for Israel condemnation

At least one Democratic senator is holding up a US Senate resolution criticizing last month’s United Nations Security Council condemnation of Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank.

According to the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) placed the hold on the grounds that the Senate resolution “completely ignores the settlement issue.”

“I think the settlements have to be part of the issue if you are passing a resolution,” Durbin says.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Insider website quotes Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico as saying that the Senate resolution’s language is objectionable as it does not recognize that settlements are an obstruction to peace. Udall says that should Durbin lift his hold, he would place one of his own.

The Republican Jewish Coalition responds by urging its members to call Durbin’s office to “stop playing games with Israel’s security.”

— JTA