Hours before the vote, Netanyahu said “there will be no Palestinian state.”
The resolution was sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, who co-chaired a high-level conference on implementing a two-state solution in late July, where the declaration was approved.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon dismissed the resolution as “theater,” saying the only beneficiary is Hamas.
“This one-sided declaration will not be remembered as a step toward peace, only as another hollow gesture that weakens this assembly’s credibility,” he said.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, reiterated its opposition to the New York Declaration and the General Assembly resolution endorsing implementation of the two-state solution.
The resolution “is yet another misguided and ill-timed publicity stunt that undermines serious diplomatic efforts to end the conflict,” U.S. Mission counselor Morgan Ortagas said. “Make no mistake, this resolution is a gift to Hamas."
