Cotton: US decision to abstain from UN cease-fire vote ‘deeply offensive’

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Tuesday decried the United States’s decision to abstain from a vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

“The Biden administration abstaining from the UN ceasefire vote is deeply offensive and strategically stupid,” Cotton said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It’s just another example of failed leadership from Joe Biden.”

Cotton’s post also included a clip of him from “The Hugh Hewitt Show” on Tuesday in which he said the abstention should “come as no surprise to anyone.”

“So, it was outrageous, deeply offensive, strategically stupid, but again, not surprising coming from [President Biden],” Cotton said in the clip.

The Security Council passed the legally binding cease-fire resolution Monday, with 14 votes in favor, none against and the U.S. abstention. It calls for an immediate cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and immediate release of hostages. 

Following the U.S. abstention, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a delegation’s visit to Washington. In a statement, the prime minister’s office said the abstention was “a clear departure from the consistent position of the United States at the Security Council since the beginning of the war.”

“The United States has abandoned its policy in the UN today,” the statement issued Monday reads. “In light of the change in the US position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation will remain in Israel.”

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said he was “disappointed” in the cancellation in a press call.

“We’re very disappointed that they won’t be coming to Washington, D.C., to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah,” Kirby said.