Israel has vowed to press ahead with building its "security fence" in the West Bank despite a UN resolution demanding it cease.
"The fence will continue being built and we will go on taking care of the security of Israel's citizens," Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israel Radio.
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the resolution last night. The vote was 144-4 with 12 abstentions, with the United States and Israel voting 'no' along with the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.
Abstaining were Australia, Burundi, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Malawi, Nauru, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda and Tuvalu.
The vote capped six hours of haggling between European Union and Arab governments over the text of the measure, which initially had been drafted by Palestinian UN envoy Mr Nasser al-Kidwa and took a harsher line against Israeli actions.
In the end, all 15 EU nations agreed to sponsor the compromise, which said the barrier was "in contradiction to international law" and demanded that Israel "stop and reverse" its construction in Palestinian lands.
But General Assembly resolutions merely express the will of the international community while Security Council resolutions can be binding under international law.
Following the General Assembly vote, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman called the proceeding "a humiliating farce" and excoriated European Union governments for concluding that "Israel's security measures are far more serious than the murder perpetrated by Palestinian terrorist groups."
The barrier, which the Israelis call a "security fence," is already 90 miles long. Israel insists it is extending the barrier solely to prevent suicide bombings on its soil.
But the Palestinians argue that building it deep into West Bank territory constitutes a land grab aimed at heading off any possibility of an eventual Palestinian state.