On Tuesday’s “MSNBC Live,” Representative Eliot Engel argued that allowing the UN resolution on Israeli settlements was “sort of a parting shot out the door” by President Obama, and he’s not sure what the truth is in the back and forth between Israel and the US over whether the US was behind the resolution.
Engel characterized the fight over whether the US orchestrated the resolution as a he said, she said where we don’t really know the truth, but that it isn’t what matters.
Engel continued that what matters is that the UN “never gives Israel a fair break, and Israel relies on the United States to block the most onerous of resolutions against them and we didn’t do it, and I think it was a mistake. It’s not a matter of whether you’re for settlements or against settlements. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, and it’s a strong ally of the United States, and at a time when half a million people are dying in Syria, there’s all kinds of genocide in South Sudan and all over the world, all the Security Council can do with the US’ acquiescence is censure Israel for settlements? I mean, give me a break.”
He added, “[I]t’s sort of a parting shot out the door, President Obama, whom I voted for twice, decided that he was going to do this, and I think he would have been a lot better off just vetoing the resolution, and saying to the UN, let’s get serious here. Let’s try to not put blame on one party, particularly, the party that’s a democracy. You know, you have all of these countries in the UN, some on the Security Council, Venezuela, I mean, give me a break, that is the worst country when it comes to human rights. They’re going to pass judgment on Israel? And this is the problem with the United Nations. You’ve got so many undemocratic nations who resent the fact that Israel is this bastion of democracy in the Middle East. And so, let the Palestinians negotiate.”
(h/t RCP)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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