On Monday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said that the White House doesn’t understand why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned Israeli delegation to the U.S. over the U.S. abstaining from a vote on a U.N. ceasefire resolution because the resolution is “a non-binding resolution that has absolutely no effect on Israel’s ability to defend itself.” And is consistent with U.S. policy of wanting a ceasefire in conjunction with the release of hostages.
Kirby said, [relevant remarks begin around 3:35] “We’re perplexed by this decision. Because, first of all, it’s a non-binding resolution that has absolutely no effect on Israel’s ability to defend itself. And, quite frankly, the Prime Minister’s office said that this was some sort of change in our policy, quite the contrary. In fact, the language in this resolution is very much consistent with what we’ve said, which is, we want all the hostages out in conjunction with a ceasefire. The linkage between the two is clear, and that’s exactly where we’ve been.”
He added, “[T]he reason why we abstained was one, this resolution, unlike previous ones — not written by us, but other countries — just called for an immediate ceasefire with no linkage to a hostage release. This one has that linkage in it.”
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