Netanyahu summons U.S. ambassador "for clarifications" over UN vote

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday 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, which has yet to be scheduled.

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 abstains, 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. Endit