Having gone out of his way, during the course of his reelection campaign, to alienate the Obama Administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has to face the danger of isolation at the UN.

Violating umpteen UN resolutions on any given day, and overtly violating the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of occupied territory, Israel has long relied on US vetoes to avoid any serious repercussions at the UN Security Council.

That veto may no longer be guaranteed, at this point, though US officials are being a bit coy about exactly where they stand. Former officials say the US position on future UN Security Council resolutions will depend heavily on the language.

The increasing political nature of US-Israeli ties mean that any non-veto will provoke outrage among Republicans, though the administration can probably get away with it more easily if the resolution itself is comparatively moderate.

That might not be too hard. UN Security Council resolutions on Israel have long been carefully moderated to try to coax the US into accepting a call for a peace deal they’ve claimed to support at any rate. Historically, that’s not mattered, as the vetoes come as a matter of course. Now those resolutions may be seen as practice for a serious round of serious resolutions.