By IRNA,
Berlin: European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on Saturday stopped short of criticizing the US for its veto on an anti-Israel resolution in the UN Security Council, saying only she regretted the impasse in the UN.
‘I note with regret that it was not possible to reach consensus on the resolution on settlements,’ Ashton said in a statement, without explicitly mentioning the US veto.
On Friday, the United States was the only country in the 15-member UN Security Council to block an Arab-supported resolution that would have condemned Israel’s construction of settlements.
The draft, which was supported by 130 countries in the UN, even by American European allies, had called for the Security Council to declare that ‘Israeli settlements established in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and constitute a major obstacle to the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.’
The draft said that Israel – ‘the occupying power’ – should immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.
It was the first US veto since 2006 and the first under President Barack Obama.
Ashton reiterated settlements were ‘illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and constitute a threat to a two-state solution.’