By Andrew Silow-Carroll/(JTA) – The United Nations failed to pass a resolution Thursday that would have condemned the terrorist group Hamas and its attacks on Israel. The Washington Post called it a “personal defeat” for Nikki Haley, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who has been a pro-Israel stalwart and hoped this would have been her swan song. She argued for a simple majority vote, but a last-minute rule change meant the U.S.-drafted resolution fell short with 87 votes in favor and 57 against, with 33 abstentions – not quite the required two-thirds majority needed to pass. The New York Times noted that while the U.N. “has voted many times to condemn Israel, never once has it passed a resolution critical of Hamas, an organization Ms. Haley described as one of the ‘most obvious and grotesque cases of terrorism in the world.’” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that, while the measure “did not achieve a two-thirds majority, this is the first time that a majority of countries have voted against Hamas and I commend each of the 87 countries that took a principled stand against Hamas. … This is a very important achievement for the US and Israel. I thank the American administration and US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for the initiative.”

CAP: Nikki Haley (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)