Congress is already setting the stage to cut off U.S. funding to the United Nations in the wake of a contested vote last week in which the Obama administration permitted an anti-Israel resolution to win overwhelming approval, according to congressional leaders, who told the Washington Free Beacon that the current administration is already plotting to take further action against the Jewish state before vacating office.
Other punitive actions by Congress could include expelling Palestinian diplomats from U.S. soil and scaling back ties with foreign nations that voted in favor of the controversial measure, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Free Beacon about the situation both on and off the record.
The Obama administration is still under bipartisan attack for its decision to help craft and facilitate the passage of a U.N. resolution condemning the construction of Jewish homes in Jerusalem, a move that reversed years of U.S. policy on the matter.
The Free Beacon was the first to disclose on Monday that senior Obama administration officials played a key role in ensuring the measure was passed unanimously by the U.N. Security Council. This included a phone call by Vice President Joe Biden to Ukraine’s president to ensure that country voted in favor of the measure.
While Biden’s office continues to dispute the claim, reporters in Israel and Europe confirmed in the intervening days that the call between Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko did in fact take place.
With anger over the issue still roiling, leading members of Congress told the Free Beacon on Wednesday that they will not delay in seeking retribution against the U.N. for the vote. This could include cutting off U.S. funding for the U.N. and stripping the Palestinian mission’s diplomatic privileges.
Lawmakers also will work to rebuff further attempts by the Obama administration to chastise Israel on the international stage. This would include freezing funds that could be spent by the administration on further U.N. action.
“The disgraceful anti-Israel resolution passed by the UNSC was apparently only the opening salvo in the Obama administration’s final assault on Israel,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) told the Free Beacon. “President Obama, Secretary Kerry, Ambassador Power, and their colleagues should remember that the United States Congress reconvenes on January 3rd, and under the Constitution we control the taxpayer funds they would use for their anti-Israel initiatives.”
“The 115th Congress must stop the current administration’s vicious attack on our great ally Israel, and address the major priorities of the incoming administration,” Cruz said, expressing his desire to work with the incoming Trump administration to reset the U.S. relationship with Israel.< Senior congressional sources currently working on the issue further disclosed to the Free Beacon that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are in an uproar over the Obama administration, which they accuse of plotting behind closed doors to smear Israel.
“Not content with spending the last eight years using the United Nations to undermine American sovereignty, the Obama administration has finally trained their sights on Israel and is trying to exploit this unelected and unaccountable international body to impose their resolution of the Palestinian issue on Israel,” one senior congressional aide told the Free Beacon. “Enough is enough.”
While the Trump administration will not take office until the end of January, Congress will be working overtime before then to stop the Obama administration from further damaging the U.S.-Israel relationship, according to the source, who hinted that a full cut-off of U.S. funding to the U.N. currently is on the table.
“A new administration will arrive on January 20th, but in the intervening weeks Congress has an important role mitigating the damage President Obama can do in his final hours,” the source said. “Why on earth would we throw good taxpayer dollars after bad in support of the UN, which has proven itself again and again utterly unable to encourage any positive progress? Just take Syria — if they were doing anything over the last five years, it should have been working out a fair and equitable adjudication of the Syrian war.”
“Instead, they’ve proven themselves utterly useless–in fact they’ve probably made a gut-wrenching catastrophe worse,” the source explained. “There’s no reason to think this action will turn out any more favorably.”
A second senior congressional aide working on a package of repercussions expressed fear that the U.N. vote was just the first salvo targeting Israel.
“The question now is whether this was the finale or the prologue of what this administration has planned against Israel,” the source said, adding that “everything is on the table right now — including funding cuts and scaling back diplomatic relations with countries that brought forward this resolution.”
A similar list of punitive actions was confirmed by multiple congressional sources who spoke to the Free Beacon about the matter. The sources were granted anonymity so they could speak freely.
“Obama went to the U.N. because a U.N. resolution is functionally irreversible by normal means,” added a veteran foreign policy insider who is currently working with the incoming Trump administration. “Obama’s goal was to eliminate any limited options that could be used to repair the damage to Israel, and he gambled that Trump and Congress would be too intimidated to use the remaining big stick options. He’s going to lose that gamble.”
“American leaders will now use exactly those options,” the source explained. “Everything is on the table, from systematically going after the U.N., to moving the U.S. embassy into parts of Jerusalem the U.N. says aren’t Israeli, to kicking the Palestinians out of Washington.”
“Members on both sides of the aisle are furious, so our response will be swift and forceful,” the second congressional source said. “With a Trump administration in place, any nation that seeks to delegitimize the Jewish state will need to answer to the United States.”
@ bernard ross:
BR, you summarized Trump’s tweet-based strategies better than I did or could do. So thanks.
Arnold Harris, Outspeaker
ArnoldHarris Said:
this is what bugs folks the most… they just dont get it…. Trump draws a conclusion, a bottom line, and is not interested in a debate ….. as he is already working out the solution.. which is also often a bottom line one liner… this is still my favorite, which made me realize his MO:
“lets ban muslim immigration until we can figure it out”
Problem and solution stated in one line…. but not only that, its the best solution too, not just a solution. I have yet to see a better immediate approach at this time.
ArnoldHarris Said:
that would be a nice change
ArnoldHarris Said:
It would be difficult to imagine how depressing it would be if Trump had not been elected and with Hillary about to take over and put the nail in Israel’s and the US’s coffins.
Hopefully all those Jews who robotically slandered Trump will start to see how lucky they are that their pick did not get in.
@ bernard ross:
ArnoldHarris Said:
For the Jews, the single most important issue remains the Western (religious and secular) antisemitism which justifies Islamic antisemitism. This Islamic antisemitism in turn gives cover to European antisemitism and the circle is closed. During the past century, Western antisemitism spread to the far East.
Yes it takes courage to confront most of humanity!!! That is what Jews are about!
@ bernard ross:
BR, President-Elect Trump and Vice-President Elect Pence, along with the kind of men and women they have appointed to run the the new government of American Nationalist redemption, are people of few words and much carefully targeted action.
I have known, studied with, worked with, served in the US Army with, shot firearms with, and drank beer with people such as this kind most of my long life. No bullshit whatsoever; just figure out what it takes to get the job done, then do it and accept responsibility for the results.
As for Trump, Republican though he is, he carries the imprint of Harry S Truman stamped on his soul, his courage, and his character. Not for nothing was the presence of that well-known sign perched on his office desk:
“The Buck Stops Here.”
Toda l’El for all of the above. Not just for Israel and the Jewish nation. But above all for the United States of America and the American nation. I think the world is about to see the rapid re-emergence of the kind of US government that brought our greatness into HaShem’s sunlight.
Meantime, I will certainly be obliged to emulate them by learning to author 140-character tweets — the whole story in a single short sentence.
Arnold Harris, Outspeaker
tweet tweet… dismissed 😛
trump doesnt state arguments… he just gives his conclusion…… because there is nothing to argue about. I like that dismissive approach…. it humiliates the target in a dismissive manner… nothing to discuss. I just hope his action is as curt and conclusive as his tweets
My tax money going to this BS… time to end the UN and put them all out of work
Ted Cruz (R., Texas) told the Free Beacon. “President Obama, Secretary Kerry, Ambassador Power, and their colleagues should remember that the United States Congress reconvenes on January 3rd, and under the Constitution we control the taxpayer funds they would use for their anti-Israel initiatives.”
If this is the case, don’t waste your energy, impeach him now! Last chance! If you don’t, like he has already promised, he will be back to foment more trouble on Jan 20 – afternoon, as a “private” citizen, who seems to be aware of more loopholes in the law than anyone else in the US.
Barry’s award of the Nobel prize lowered the credibility of the organisation and should be withdrawn. Introducing his Muslim Brotherhood Plan to destroy Egypt was the start of the ME destruction after Bush’s Iraq. The destruction of the ME brought about the biggest invasion of Muslims into the Western world.
Christian guilt went along with diversity and multi-culturalism looking the other way. Suddenly one day they woke up to find their native cultures had disappeared under the heavy load of Islam. Racist, Bigots and ‘Islamofauxbia’ were now buzzwords dividing communtiies.
Clinton’s killing of Gaddafi unleashed boat loads of illiterate Muslim Africans into Italy and the EU. Before Gaddafi had done a deal with the then PM Berlusconi to keep then out.
My disgust with Barry and Clinton forces me to wish Seif Gaddafi success in retrieving the country’s leadership. Seif, what happened to your father’s gold, the 147 tonnes of it….
Putting the knife into Israel, Barry, Kerry and the defeated Clinton think they can camouflage their historical records. In the back of Barry’s mind he will use his last presidential breath to breathe life into the legacy and realise the dream of that Egyptian Muslin Brotherhood, terrorist PLO, Nobel Piss prize holder and two faced bastard –
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa
Commonly known as Yasser Arafat who wanted all Israels dead.
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/12/28/dershowitz-money-counts-un-u-s-needs-threaten-defund-un-anti-israel-bias/
government/2016/12/28/kassam-usexit-case-turfing-un-america-grows-stronger/
Backing for Israel will gather strength.
The end of the 1st US tyrant is approaching. He was allowed to severely damage this country but not beyond repair.
Reincarnation from slaughterhouses to The United Slaughterhouse of Nations:
As a senior Congressional Aide put it, “Not content with spending the last eight years using the United Nations to undermine American sovereignty, the Obama administration has finally trained their sights on Israel and is trying to exploit this unelected and unaccountable international body to impose their resolution of the Palestinian issue on Israel”…
Even more plainly: Obama’s Weatheradmin has made explicit their heretofore hidden agenda to undermine both ‘The Big Satan’ and ‘The Little Satan.’