House Rebukes Obama, U.N. on Israel

LifeZette: Members of Congress, enraged over the Obama administration’s failure to block an anti-Israel resolution in the United Nations, overwhelmingly passed a resolution Thursday supporting the U.S. ally.

The 342-80 vote calls on the United Nations to repeal with Security Council resolution declaring Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem a violation of international law. The Obama administration, breaking with decades of tradition, refused to veto the resolution and allowed it to pass with an abstention from the United States.

“Today we put Congress on record objecting to the recent U.N. Security Council resolution that hurt our ally, that hurt Israel, and I believe that puts an enduring peace her out of reach,” House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said on the House floor.

The status of settlements on the West Bank — and especially East Jerusalem — long has been recognized as a major issue that would have to be worked out as part of any lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The resolution passed by the House maintains that the U.N. action undercuts Israel and dims the prospects for those long-sought negotiations.