In a stunning departure from its policy over the last eight years, the Obama administration abstained from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution Friday that demands an immediate halt to all Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, enabling the measure to pass.

The resolution was approved with 14 member states voting in favor, none voting against, and one abstention — the United States.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the Israeli “settlements” and continuing construction in “Palestinian territory” as a ‘flagrant violation’ of international law.

Instead of casting a veto to support Israel, as it almost always does on council resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the U.S. abstained.

That gave a green light for the council to approve the resolution by a 14-0 vote with U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power abstaining, a move greeted with loud applause in the packed Security Council chamber.

The resolution says “Israel’s settlements on Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity.”

It demands a halt to “all Israeli settlement activities,” saying this “is essential for salvaging the two-state solution.”

(AP)