Newt Gingrich mocked what he sees as Russia’s hypocrisy over its anti-Israel vote at the United Nations Friday.
The former House speaker tweeted Saturday morning, “So Russia having illegally occupied Crimea and eastern Ukraine votes to condemn Israel for ‘occupied lands.’ We are supposed to be impressed.”
The Obama administration did not join with 14 other countries in the Security Council’s condemnation of Israel, abstaining the vote.
President-elect Donald Trump encouraged the U.S. to use its veto power – which it possesses as a permanent member of the security council – to block the motion. After Friday’s vote, he tweeted “As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th,” referring to his inauguration day.
The security council, dominated by non-democratic countries, has a history of bashing Israeli actions in the Mideast. On Friday it cited Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem – regions the Mideast country has occupied since wining the Six Day War in 1967 – for disapproval.
Gingrich, a Trump loyalist from early in the Republican primaries, remains a harsh critic of Russia but is not opposed to stabilizing relations with them.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. claimed by not vetoing the resolution, the U.S. was merely following historical precedent.
“It is because this resolution reflects the facts on the ground — and is consistent with U.S. policy across Republican and Democratic administrations throughout the history of the state of Israel — that the United States did not veto it,” said Samantha Powers.
Russia was joined in its support of the anti-Israel resolution by Angola, Britain, China, Egypt, France, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal, Spain, Ukraine, Uruguay and Venezuela.
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