Israel-Palestine: Kilmer’s poor choice

Rep. Derik Kilmer had a choice this week. He could support President Obama or he could support Israel Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and President-Elect Donald Trump. He chose Netanyahu and Trump when he voted to oppose the Obama Administration’s decision to abstain from a UN Security Council vote condemning the illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.

These settlements, in violation of international law, have been a sore point between the US and Israel for decades, with the U.S. opposing the settlements, while voting to support the Israeli expansion. This time, Obama said “enough” and abstained.

Kilmer could have supported Obama, but he chose to support Netanyahu’s illegal expansion to Trumps’ vigorous applause. Bad start to the year.

This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Israel-Palestine: Kilmer’s poor choice."