Foreign minister Murray McCully defends Wellington’s decision which he says should have come as no surprise to Jewish state

Israel has withdrawn its ambassador to Wellington after the New Zealandgovernment co-sponsored a controversial UN resolution criticising settlements in the occupied territories.

New Zealand joined Senegal, Malaysia and Venezuela in bringing the resolution before the security council despite a huge diplomatic effort by Israel to stymie the move.
There was applause in the UN chamber when the resolution – the first by the security council in more than 38 years to condemn Israel over its settlement policy – was passed 14-0.

Israel had attempted to persuade the United States to veto the resolution but the Obama administration decided instead to abstain on the vote.