<p>Last week, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to condemn Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory as a violation of international law. The US abstained. ;</p>
<p>Infuriated by the vote, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to cut ties with Britain, Russia, France, Japan, China, Angola, Ukraine, Uruguay, Egypt, Senegal, Spain, and New Zealand.</p>
<p>The United States has veto power in the UN Security Council, and our decision to abstain is a slap in the face to our longtime ally. In other words: we&rsquo;re supposed to have Israel&rsquo;s back, but we did nothing to stop the vote.</p>
<p>Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich asks why the Obama Administration is &ldquo;waging war against Israel.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Why are they taking steps to isolate and then kill a democracy and an ally?&rdquo; he tweeted on Monday. &ldquo;President-elect Trump must prepare a comprehensive offensive&hellip;to undo the damage to Israel the Obama team is inflicting.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Israel&rsquo;s decision means that it will no longer receive foreign ministers from those 12 nations. Business between Israel and those nations&rsquo; embassies will be suspended, and Israeli ministers will keep travel to those places at a minimum.</p>
<p>The practical effects of such an order are yet to be seen. It will not affect security cooperation or trade, but &ldquo;it acts as a statement of Netanyahu&rsquo;s anger at the situation,&rdquo; reports <em>The Hill.</em> &ldquo;It also notably excludes the United States, which has been on the receiving end of most of Netanyahu&rsquo;s public lashings.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Netanyahu agrees that Obama was behind the UN vote. &ldquo;We have no doubt that the Obama Administration initiated it, stood behind it, coordinated on the wording, and demanded that it be passed,&rdquo; he said. ;</p>
<p>Netanyahu calls Obama&rsquo;s actions &ldquo;shameful&rdquo; and says he looks forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump, whom he calls a &ldquo;friend.&rdquo;</p>
<p>A year ago, Trump told the press that he planned to be &ldquo;very neutral&rdquo; in regards to Israel-Palestinian issues. Since then, his stance has shifted towards Israel and against the Palestinians. Trump says the UN resolution &ldquo;will make it much harder to negotiate peace,&rdquo; but promises to &ldquo;get it done anyway.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>&#8220;The decision taken at the UN yesterday was part of the swan song of the old world biased against Israel,&#8221; said Netanyahu. &#8220;We are entering a new era and as the President-elect Trump said yesterday, this is going to happen much quicker than people think. In this new era there is a high price for those trying to harm Israel.&#8221;</p>