The Jerusalem Post comments on the aftermath of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, but contends that “instead of mitigating the damage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be making matters worse.” The editor argues that the prime minister’s diplomatic offensive “threatens to further isolate Israel and squander important diplomatic credit with the US Congress and the incoming Trump administration over yet another anti-Israel UN resolution,” and asserts: “The government should be spending its time crafting a long-term strategy for Israel and working on how to build diplomatic ties across the globe, not on how to cut them.”
Haaretz slams Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to prevent Israel from participating in the vote on the international mechanism set up by the UN for gathering evidence and preparing legal cases against those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, and notes that this “The same Netanyahu who is attacking the international community and UN institutions for ‘doing nothing’ to stop the slaughter in Syria, while focusing exclusively on Israel instead.” The editor asserts: “At the moment of truth, Netanyahu decided to stand with Assad, the mass murderer, and his Iranian, Lebanese and Russian backers rather than with their victims,” and contends that “when the responsibility rests in his hands, he acts exactly like all those other statesmen who stood on the sidelines and kept mum in the face of crimes against humanity for the sake of their own belligerent interests. So next time Netanyahu condemns those hypocrites at the United Nations, he ought to look in the mirror.”
Yediot Aharonot believes that “United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 is a serious diplomatic blow to Israel, and contrary to the intention of the countries that voted in favor of it – it is another nail in the peace process’ frozen coffin,” and states: “Instead of lashing out at the world’s leading countries, Israel should work to stop the snowball effect, prepare a long-term strategy vis-à-vis the new US administration and initiate a series of moves to restore its standing in the world.”Israel Hayom http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=18015 contends: “After having apparently operated manipulatively and in the shadows to formulate U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334 on Friday, Obama is now ending his presidency with preparations for a final dance of destruction, after which he will depart from the White House,” but notes that ever since “Alpha,” the American-British plan of August 1955, every attempt to create a framework to force on Israel, was dead on arrival - mainly due to Israel's vigorous opposition, often shared by the American public and Congress. The author points out that with the administration on the eve of its final curtain call, it “no longer possesses legitimate forms of leverage or influence,” and declares: “It is doubtful that this desperate attempt to compensate for eight years of illusions and conceptual fixation, through a series of contrarian and hurried measures against the only pro-Western democratic stronghold in the region, will leave any mark on reality.”
[Amos Yadlin and Abraham Ben-Zvi wrote today's articles in Yediot Aharonot and Israel Hayom, respectively.]