28 December, 2016
During the U.S. election campaign, Trump pledged to switch the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would bolster the city as Israel's capital despite worldwide objections.
Despite the United Nations resolution condemning settlements, Jerusalem Municipality is set to approve thousands of new housing units in the eastern sector of the city this week.
The Israeli prime minister has accused the Obama administration of initiating the resolution.
However, as made clear by New Zealand's co-sponsoring of the resolution, Mr McCully refused to back down.
However, Israel may have a new friend in incoming US Ambassador, David Friedman - a supporter of Israeli settlements and an opponent of Palestinian statehood.
The White House stressed the risk posed by settlements to the viability of a two-state solution. Israel says settlement activities in the territories, which were captured by Israel in a 1967 war, should be agreed upon in peace talks.
He added: "We don't turn the other cheek".
These countries were Britain, France, Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, Angola, Egypt, Uruguay, Spain, Senegal and New Zealand.
The new United Nations resolution changes nothing on the ground between Israel and the Palestinians and will probably be all but ignored by the incoming US administration of Donald Trump.
There were also harsh words for the Obama administration from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who claimed Washington had conspired with the Palestinians to push for the resolution's adoption.
Diplomatic relations soured afterr the pre-Christmas UN Security Council resolution that criticised Israeli settlements as violating worldwide law and undermining a two-state solution with Palestine. In voting yes, he argued, the council in fact voted against progress and negotiation.
The last UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building was adopted in 1979.
On Wednesday, a municipal committee in Jerusalem cancelled a vote on approving permits for the building of almost 500 homes, the Jerusalem Post reported. Would you ban the Russians from building in Moscow?
The U.S. abstained from voting on the measure - which condemned the settlements as a "flagrant violation" of worldwide law - thus allowing it to pass by a 14-0 margin and souring an already bitter relationship between the two nations.
On Thursday, Mr Trump had urged the council to reject the motion.
Dermer said Friday's UN Security Council vote harmed long-term prospects for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
"We call on the United States to stand by us and we expect our greatest ally to continue with its long-standing policy and to veto this resolution", Danon said in the statement.
Speaking at the cabinet's weekly meeting, Netanyahu told the ministers to "minimize" meetings and travels to the states that backed the resolution in the UN Security Council on Friday, and with which Israel has diplomatic relations.
