On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded the U.S. ambassador to provide “clarifications” after Washington abstained from a UN vote on the illegitimacy of the West Bank settlements.
A statement by the foreign ministry said Netanyahu summoned Ambassador Dan Shapiro for a meeting. No date has been fixed for the meeting.
In the morning, the ministry said that Netanyahu, who is also acting foreign minister, instructed the ministry to summon the envoys of the UN Security Council’s member countries which have an embassy in Israel for a reprimand.
The list included the ambassadors or deputies of France, Britain, China, Russia, Spain, Japan, Egypt, Angola, Ukraine, and Uruguay.
The move was part of a “diplomatic and economic price” that Netanyahu vowed to exact from countries which supported the historic motion to end the Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The vote, passed on Friday by a 14-0 majority, with the United States abstaining.
It demands Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”
It states that the building of settlements by Israel has “no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.”
Israel reacted furiously, with Netanyahu lashing at President Barack Obama and accusing him of “a shameful ambush.”
The White House rejected the accusations, saying it didn’t promote the motion. The proposal was put forward by New Zealand, Senegal, Venezuela, and Malaysia in the wake of the “Regulation Bill,” a government-backed act to annex private Palestinian lands in the West Bank and legalize unsanctioned outposts.
About 500,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, lands that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast War and has been controlling them ever since, despite international condemnations.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")