Ex-House Speaker: Obama 'Rewards' Terrorists by Not Vetoing UN Israel Resolution

Outgoing President Barack Obama has given terrorists a victory by allowing the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning Jewish settlements on the West Bank, former US House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich said in a statement via Twitter on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the UN Security Council approved on a 14-0 vote — with the United States abstaining — a resolution calling for an immediate end to Jewish migration to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

No one should be confused. Terrorists were rewarded, a democracy was knifed in the back by the Obama decision to not veto security council

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) 23 декабря 2016 г.

​"No one should be confused, terrorists were rewarded. A democracy was knifed in the back by the Obama decision to not veto Security Council," Gingrich tweeted on Friday.

For the past five decades the United States has unsuccessfully sought to discourage Israeli settlements on land captured from Palestinians during the 1967 war.

About 600,000 Jews live in heavily guarded enclaves in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a number that has nearly doubled since the ill-fated 1992 Oslo peace accords.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in Friday’s Security Council session that the US abstention would not diminish Washington’s commitment to Middle East peace.