Graham Wants to Defund UN Over Anti-Israeli Resolution

Meanwhile, Israel is punishing the countries that sponsored the resolution
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2016 1:54 PM CST
Graham Wants to Defund UN Over Anti-Israeli Resolution
Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to stop US funding to the UN unless the Security Council repeals the resolution it passed Friday condemning Israeli settlements.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The US' surprising decision to allow a resolution condemning Israeli settlements to be passed by the UN Security Council on Friday continues to have immediate ramifications. CNN reports Sen. Lindsey Graham says he'll propose a measure to cut off US funding to the UN unless the resolution is repealed. "I will do everything in my power," Graham says, "to leave no doubt about where America stands when it comes to...the only true democracy in the Middle East." He calls the US' abstention from Friday's vote, allowing the resolution to pass 14-0, "flat-out reckless" and all but accuses the UN of being "anti-Semitic."

But it wasn't just the likes of Graham and Donald Trump opposing the resolution. Some Democrats also denounced it, with Sen. Chuck Schumer calling it "disappointing and confounding," the New York Times reports. And in Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu immediately removed the country's ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal, two sponsors of the resolution, the Guardian reports. He went on to cut off all aid to Senegal and cancel its foreign minister's planned visit to Israel in a few weeks. The resolution is far more popular outside the US and Israel. It was met with applause at the UN and supported by China, France, Russia and others. (More Israel stories.)

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