Even if they don’t, the United States should leave and take with it the 22% ($8 billion) of all UN funding provided by American taxpayers, who get nothing but disrespect and hostility in return.

Reuters Israel will re-assess its ties with the United Nations following the adoption by the Security Council of a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building on Israeli land (falsely claimed by Arab Muslims), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday.

The vote was able to pass the 15-member council on Friday because the United States broke with a long-standing approach of diplomatically shielding Israel and did not wield its veto power as it had on many times before – a decision that Netanyahu called “shameful”.

“I instructed the Foreign Ministry to complete within a month a re-evaluation of all our contacts with the United Nations, including the Israeli funding of U.N. institutions and the presence of U.N. representatives in Israel,” Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks.

“I have already instructed to stop about 30 million shekels ($7.8 million) in funding to five U.N. institutions, five bodies, that are especially hostile to Israel … and there is more to come,” he said. The Israeli leader did not name the institutions or offer any further details.

Defying heavy pressure from long-time ally Israel and President-elect Donald Trump for Washington to use its veto, the United States abstained in the Security Council decision, which passed with 14 votes in favor.

Senior members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat — including several in the Senate — have called openly for defunding the United Nations in response to the vote.

Currently, the U.S. spends “approximately $8 billion in mandatory payments and voluntary contributions to the United Nations and its affiliated organizations,” according to Fox News. The U.S. accounts for 22% of the UN’s regular budget.

Israel for decades has pursued a policy of constructing Jewish settlements on territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war with its Arab neighbors including the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Most countries view Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank Israeli owned Judea-Samaria and East Jerusalem Jerusalem as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel disagrees, citing a biblical connection to the land.

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Yesterday, Obama stuck it to Israel, perhaps one final time, when the U.S. abstained from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a halt to Israeli construction in the Israeli territory of Judea-Sammaria and eastern sections of Jerusalem, thereby allowing the measure to pass.

President-elect Donald Trump responded to the UN Security Council’s passage of an anti-Israel resolution Friday — thanks to U.S.  abstention by President Barack Obama — by Tweeting:

Breitbart The move was a dramatic departure from the longstanding U.S. policy of vetoing anti-Israel resolutions. And make no mistake about it. This was an anti-Israel resolution.

The text of the resolution repeatedly and wrongly refers to the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem as “Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.” This fraudulent language technically places the Western Wall and Temple Mount plaza under the “Palestinian territory” qualification.

In actuality, the Palestinians never had a state in either the West Bank or eastern Jerusalem, and they are not legally recognized as the undisputed authority in those areas.

Jordan occupied and annexed the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem from 1948 until Israel captured the lands in a defensive war in 1967 after Arab countries used the territories to launch attacks against the Jewish state.  In 1988 Jordan officially renounced its claims to the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

The text of the resolution declares that the Israeli settlement enterprise has “no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.”

It calls for Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.” As pointed out earlier this week, and numerous times in the past, existing international law does NOT make Israeli settlements illegal.

If the Palestinians actually wanted a state (and not all of Israel), they would not have to resort to introducing anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. Israel has offered the Palestinians a state in much of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with a shared capital in Jerusalem numerous times.

These offers were made at Camp David in 2000, Taba in 2001, the Annapolis Conference in 2007, and more offers were made in 2008. In each of these cases, the PA refused generous Israeli offers of statehood and bolted negotiations without counteroffers.

Breitbart  A statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that Israel looked forward to working with Trump to undo the effects of the resolution:

Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms. At a time when the Security Council does nothing to stop the slaughter of half a million people in Syria, it disgracefully gangs up on the one true democracy in the Middle East, Israel, and calls the Western Wall “occupied territory.” The Obama administration not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN, it colluded with it behind the scenes. Israel looks forward to working with President-elect Trump and with all our friends in Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, to negate the harmful effects of this absurd resolution.

Senior members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat — including several in the Senate — have called openly for defunding the United Nations in response to the vote, which declares Israeli settlements illegal.

The vote, which Israel argues mistakes both historical fact and international law, breaks with five decades of precedent in U.S. policy. The Obama administration had vetoed an earlier resolution substantially similar to the one that it allowed to pass.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) agreed, in a statement after the vote: “The United States provides considerable financial assistance to the United Nations and Security Council members. The UN and nations supporting this resolution have now imperiled all forms of U.S. assistance. I look forward to working with President-elect Trump and members of both parties in Congress to decide what the consequences for this action will be.”

Currently, the U.S. spends “approximately $8 billion in mandatory payments and voluntary contributions to the United Nations and its affiliated organizations,” according to Fox News. The U.S. accounts for 22% of the UN’s regular budget.

This video is from 2012, but even more relevant today.

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