Hispanic evangelicals denounce the United States administration’s failure to veto the United Nations Security Council’s anti-Israel resolution, which passed Monday, demanding an immediate halt to Israeli settlement and construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This one-sided resolution holds Israel responsible for the lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiation without blaming the Palestinian Authority for their continual incitement of terrorism.
The draft resolution, which was introduced by Egypt, names Israeli policies specifically as being responsible for “imperiling the two-State solution” while mentioning other issues, including terrorism and violence, in a generic, unspecific manner.
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, CEO and president of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC)/CONEL, stated, “Blaming the Israeli government for the current impasse fails to acknowledge the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority on a myriad of issues, particularly ongoing incitement and unwillingness to engage in bilateral negotiations.”
President-elect Donald Trump actively opposed this resolution and stated, “As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis.”
Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, publicly supports Israeli Jews having the right to develop their own land.
“In the last 27 days of his term, President Obama dishonored America’s strong support of Israel,” said Mat Staver, president of Christians in Defense of Israel and executive counsel of NHCLC/CONEL.
Mario Bramnick, president of Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition, issued the following statement: “On Jan. 20, President-elect Trump will start his new administration with an emphasis on restoring America’s strong bond with Israel. This resolve in standing with Israel must be reinforced in this nation.”
NHCLC/CONEL is the world’s largest Hispanic Christian organization. It serves as a representative voice for the more than 100 million Hispanic evangelicals assembled in over 40,000 U.S. churches and another 500,000 congregations spread throughout the Spanish-speaking diaspora.
