Netanyahu summons U.S. ambassador in fallout over UN vote

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned U.S. Ambassador Daniel Shapiro Sunday, December 25 two days after Washington abstained in a vote on a UN resolution against Israeli settlements.

Their meeting came after Israel earlier Sunday called in 10 representatives of 14 other states that voted for the resolution.

An official Israeli source confirmed only that Netanyahu and Shapiro had met, without elaborating on the content or outcome of their discussions.

The UN Security Council passed the measure Friday after the United States abstained, enabling the adoption of the first resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy.

The resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem".

It says settlements have "no legal validity" and are "dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-state solution."

Netanyahu, who also holds the foreign ministry portfolio, had rejected the resolution as a "shameful blow against Israel."

On Sunday, he repeated Israel's claim that U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were behind it.

"We have no doubt that the Obama administration initiated it, stood behind it, coordinated the drafts and demanded to pass it," the premier said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting.