Israel rejected an overwhelming call by the United Nations to dismantle a massive barrier being built in the West Bank, with a top official dismissing the UN General Assembly today as hostile to the Jewish state.
"The fence will continue to be built," said Vice Premier Ehud Olmert.
Israel says the wall is needed to keep suicide bombers out of the country. The Palestinians say Israel is using the barrier as a pretext to take Palestinian land.
In Jerusalem, meanwhile, Israel's police minister toured a disputed holy site the first visit by a senior Israeli official since Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted there three years ago.
Muslim administrators of the site called the visit a provocation, though Police Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said it was coordinated with them. The visit ended without incident.
The site is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, an area of destroyed ancient temples; Muslims call the compound the Harem as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, where the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosques are located.
Hanegbi went to the site to survey security arrangements in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next week, his office said. The site, which had been open only to Muslims since the violence erupted, was reopened to others in recent weeks.
"We didn't want the visit to have the nature of a demonstration, we didn't want any tension there," Hanegbi told Israel Radio.
The General Assembly's call to dismantle the West Bank barrier was passed late Tuesday after more than six hours of negotiations. The compromise resolution wasn't legally binding, but was seen as a gauge of world opinion.
Palestinians praised the measure, which passed with 144 countries in favor and four opposed, including the United States. There were 12 abstentions.
Olmert, speaking to Israel radio this evening, dismissed the resolution as an example of the world's hostility toward Israel.
"Everything connected to Israel gets an automatic majority. The one positive element is that the European Union proposal came to replace a proposal that is even more extreme and hostile to Israel," Olmert said.
In return for EU support, the Palestinians and their supporters agreed to drop a second resolution that would have asked the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, for an advisory opinion on the legality of the barrier.