nsnbc : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to cancel all Israeli aid to Angola. The decision came in response to the country’s support for UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) which, among others, calls on Israel to end its illegal settlements in Palestinian territories.
Netanyahu has been instructing the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation to halt activities with Angola over Angola’s endorsement of the Security Council resolution. Angola had initially signaled that it might abstain, but then voted in support of the resolution.
The halt of Israel’s “aid” to Angola is largely symbolic, as there are very limited relations including aid, commerce and otherwise between the two countries. Tel Aviv also summoned the Angolan Ambassador. Moreover, Netanyahu recalled Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand and Senegal and canceled Israeli aid to Senegal as well.
The round of retaliatory diplomatic measures is bound to further isolate Israel, which is already facing an international Boycott Sanctions Divestment campaign that continues to gain momentum. There may be security concerns as some analysts fear Israel might “retaliate” by supporting separatists of Angola’s oil-rich Cabinda province, where locals have been striving for the establishment of a sovereign state since the 1960s.
Others don’t understand why Israel is making “such a big deal” of a UN Security Council resolution that has questionable legal standing because the USA abstained. For a UNSC resolution to be legally adopted it requires the concurrent vote of all of the five permanent Security Council members. Moreover, the resolution does not include any sanctions against Israel in the case of its non-compliance.
F/AK – nsnbc 28.12.2016
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For further analysis on the new resolution, see: 12/24/16 UN Security Council Adopts Resolution Against Illegal Israeli Settlements?
