Benjamin Netanyahu #conspiracy bbc.com

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a UN call to end illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land is "shameful".

He stressed that Israel would not abide by Friday's vote at the 15-member UN Security Council.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman said the resolution was a "big blow to Israeli policy".

The document was passed after the US refused to veto it, breaking with long-standing American practice.

Washington has traditionally sheltered Israel from condemnatory resolutions.

The Egyptian-drafted resolution had been withdrawn after Israel has asked US President-elect Donald Trump to intervene, but it was proposed again by Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal and Venezuela.

It was adopted by 14 votes to zero, with one abstention.

The issue of Jewish settlements is one of the most contentious between Israel and the Palestinians, who see them as an obstacle to peace.

About 500,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

Mr Netanyahu said: "Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms.

"At a time when the Security Council does nothing to stop the slaughter of half-a-million people in Syria, it disgracefully gangs up on the one true democracy in the Middle East, Israel, and calls the Western Wall 'occupied territory'."

Mr Netanyahu said the administration of US President Barack Obama "not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN, it colluded with it behind the scenes", and added that he looked forward to working with Mr Trump.

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