The U.S. failed to exercise its veto power during a UN Security Council meeting on Monday; a resolution calling for an “immediate cease-fire” was passed. Now, the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released a statement reacting to the “clear retreat.”
In a statement, the Israeli PM’s office called the US abstention “a clear retreat from the consistent position of the US in the Security Council since the beginning of the war.”
“This withdrawal hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages, because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a cease-fire without the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office added.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear last night that if the US withdraws from its principled position, he will not send the Israeli delegation to the US,” the statement concluded. “In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation would not go.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday the Israel cancellation was “disappointing” while insisting the abstention “does not, and I repeat, does not represent the shift in our policy. We had been clear, and we’ve been consistent in our support for a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal.”
“We wanted to get to a place where we could support that resolution,” Kirby added. “But because the final text does not have key language that we think is essential, like a condemnation of Hamas, we could not support it.”
More over at The New York Post:
I don't blame Netanhayu one bit: Netanyahu Scraps DC Delegation Trip After U.S. Allows Gaza Ceasefire Resolution: https://t.co/mICowK92jD
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