The U.S. vetoed a UN Security Council resolution Friday calling for a ceasefire to the fighting in Gaza.
The U.S. and Israel have opposed calls for a ceasefire, saying it would strengthen Hamas.
The vote was delayed for several hours over worries the U.S. would veto it. Diplomats from several Arab nations met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to try to convince the U.S. to abstain from voting.
As a permanent member of the council, the U.S. has veto power, and had signaled it planned to block the resolution. The U.K. abstained from the vote, while the 13 other members of the council voted for it.
The UK abstained, that is explicitly not supporting the US. It’s not objecting either, but it’s not supporting.
What I find interesting is that the PM Rishi Sunak talks in full support of Israel in national politics, yet on the international stage the stance is now slightly more neutral.
It is a scam happened before, countries abstain because they know the US would veto. If UK didn’t abstain I think the resolution would pass. That’s why they did it, help to not let the resolution pass and it doesn’t look bad as veto.
How is it a scam?
Not to a scam but clever politics… Let US to take the hit, since supporting Israel is becoming hard as people are wising up to their goals and policies vis a vis Palestinians. The people more educated people get on the topic, the harder it is support Israel at all.
Politicians know that domestic support esp among younger people is down.
Its a desperate attempt not to piss off even more voters. While still supporting party funders ideals.