US-Israel Relations 2016: Benjamin Netanyahu Summons Washington Envoy For Reprimand Over UN Resolution

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro to a meeting in the wake of Friday’s U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem but it was unclear whether the confrontation would be Sunday night or later this week.

Netanyahu ordered the Foreign Ministry to summon the envoys from Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, France, Britain, Angola, Egypt, Uruguay and Spain, which voted in favor of the U.N. Security Council resolution to express Israeli ire. The measure passed 14-0 with the U.S. abstaining, breaking with the American tradition of protecting Israel.

One Western diplomat complained to Haaretz the summons’ timing was unusual.

"What would they have said in Jerusalem if we summoned the Israeli ambassador on Yom Kippur," the Western diplomat said.

The resolution labels Israeli settlements illegal and asks the rest of the world to differentiate its dealings with Israel proper and the territory won in the 1967 Six Day War. Netanyahu labeled the resolution “hostile and unbalanced” at his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday.

Netanyahu summoned Shapiro on Sunday. Haaretz said he was asked to an "unusual" Sunday night meeting but Ynetnews.com said the two would meet later this week.

Haaretz reported Netanyahu also warned Likud ministers more pressure could be applied to Israel before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office Jan. 20.

Netanyahu told his Cabinet the Obama administration worked on the resolution’s wording to make sure it passed, contradicting past U.S. policy against allowing the U.N. to force conditions on Israel.

"As I told [U.S. Secretary of State] John Kerry on Thursday — friends do not take friends to the Security Council," Netanyahu told his Cabinet in English.

Netanyahu and Obama have had a contentious relationship throughout both men’s tenures. The relationship worsened during the 2012 election when Netanyahu threw his support behind Republican nominee Mitt Romney and accepted an invitation to speak before Congress without clearing it with the White House.

At the same time, Netanyahu told his ministers to stop criticizing Obama and calling for the annexation of the settlements, the Jerusalem Post reported.

"I wasn't surprised by the actions of the Americans or the U.N., because they were never our friends," Culture Minister Miri Regev told Army Radio. "I knew Obama was looking to take sweet revenge against Israel and Netanyahu. Since he was elected in 2009, he was hostile to settlements and Netanyahu. He revealed his true face with an anti-Israel decision but Netanyahu and Israel will defeat him."

"I believe the next administration will clean this decision that stained the Obama administration,” Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told reporters outside Netanyahu’s office. “Obama surrendered to the Iranians, abandoned the Syrians and stuck a knife in the backs of the Israelis."

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered the Israeli Army and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories to stop all activity with counterparts in the Palestinian Authority, Ynetnews.com reported.

Netanyahu said he is encouraged by the “statements of our friends — Republican and Democrat alike … [who] understand how reckless and destructive this U.N. resolution was.”

President-elect Donald Trump expressed his opposition to the resolution and has selected David Friedman, a strong supporter of settlement activity, as his choice for U.S. ambassador to Israel. He tweeted Saturday the action will make it much tougher to negotiate a peace settlement.

Netanyahu Saturday night called the resolution “underhanded and an anti-Israel maneuver.” He vowed to cut funding to U.N. institutions and ordered a full review of the Jewish State’s relationship with the international body.

Israel recalled its envoys to New Zealand and Senegal, which pushed for the resolution, and called for sanctions against the two countries.

"The Obama administration not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the U.N., it colluded with it behind the scenes," the prime minister’s bureau said.

Ukranian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman had been scheduled to visit Israel this week. Netanyahu canceled the meeting.