Netanyahu calls in US envoy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned US Ambassador Daniel Shapiro on Sunday, two days after Washington abstained in a vote on a UN resolution against Israeli settlements.

Their meeting came after Israel earlier that day called in 10 representatives of 14 other states that voted for the resolution.

An official Israeli source confirmed only that Netanyahu and Shapiro had met, without elaborating on the content or outcome of their discussions.

The Haaretz daily's website said that for Israel to summon an American ambassador was "considered a most unusual step".

"Even more unusual is the fact that unlike the other envoys who were summoned on Sunday to the foreign ministry, Netanyahu will conduct the conversation himself at his office," it said ahead of the meeting.

The UN Security Council passed the measure on Friday after the US abstained, enabling the adoption of the first resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy.

The resolution demands that "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem".

By deciding not to veto the UN move, Washington took a rare step that deeply angered Israel, which accused US President Barack Obama of abandoning its closest Middle East ally in the waning days of his administration.

Netanyahu, who also holds the foreign ministry portfolio, had rejected the resolution as a "shameful blow against Israel".

He repeated Israel's claim that Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were behind it.

"This is of course in total contradiction to the traditional American policy of not trying to impose conditions of a final resolution," he said, "and of course the explicit commitment of President Obama himself in 2011 to avoid such measures."