Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (Rep.) doubled down on his criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the US-Israel relationship, condemning on Sunday the White House’s decision to abstain on United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 targeting Israel.
Cotton, Arkansas’ junior senator who strongly opposed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, lambasted the Obama administration’s tacit support for the recently passed UNSC resolution which labelled Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as illegal.
Speaking on Fox News on Sunday, Cotton reiterated earlier attacks on the administration, calling the administration’s inaction at the UNSC “a fitting punctuation mark on eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency.”
“First he abstained at the United Nations in the same way he abstained from leadership in the world for eight years. And second, he was much harsher on his allies than his adversaries.”
The senator also decried Secretary of State John Kerry’s 72-minute speech justifying the abstention, during which he ripped Israel and the Netanyahu government over construction in Judea and Samaria, while only briefly referencing Arab terrorism and anti-Semitic incitement.
“At root, the problem that we face in the Holy Land is not Israelites building new neighborhoods around Jerusalem,” said Cotton. “It's the Palestinians refusal to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state in the Holy Land. Until they do that, there won't be a peace agreement between the two peoples.”
Following the UNSC vote, Cotton blasted the Obama administration as the “most anti-Israel” in US history.
"This cowardly disgraceful action cements President Obama's richly deserved legacy as the most anti-Israel president in American history."