A gift on Christmas Eve that we did not expect from the Obama Administration 
Quoted below directly from Dec 24, 2016, London Financial Times.  We Hold These Truths’ volunteers thanks you for reading, helping, supporting our work, and some for praying for us all year long. -Editor CEC
“The UN Security Council has passed a landmark resolution condemning Israel over the expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories, after the US abstained, allowing the measure to go through despite harsh criticism from Donald Trump and the Israeli government.

 The resolution passed with 14 votes, including France and the UK, in the 15-member council after the US departed from its longstanding policy of shielding Israel.

The Obama administration did not veto the measure because of the acceleration in settlement activity that has occurred since the US vetoed a similar resolution in 2011.
“The Security Council reaffirmed its established consensus that settlements have no legal validity,” said Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN. “The US has been sending the message that the settlements must stop, privately and publicly, for nearly five decades.”
The vote infuriated Israel and its congressional allies in the US. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister who has a poor relationship with Barack Obama, said Israel “rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms”.