Israel's Netanyahu to meet with US ambassador

WASHINGTON, DC: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US Ambassador Daniel Shapiro on Sunday, the US State Department said, two days after Washington abstained during a vote on UN resolution against Israeli settlements.

"We can confirm Ambassador Shapiro will meet with PM Netanyahu this evening," the State Department said in a brief statement to AFP.



Earlier on Sunday, Israel had summoned representatives of states that supported the UN resolution.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon said that the 14 envoys of UN Security Council members would visit the ministry in Jerusalem throughout the day. The US envoy had not initially been among those summoned.



The UN Security Council passed the measure Friday after the United States abstained, enabling the adoption of the first resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy.

The resolution demands "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem."



Netanyahu, who had rejected the resolution as a "shameful blow against Israel," repeated on Sunday the Israeli claim that US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were behind the resolution.