Israel’s ambassador the United States says his country will share evidence with President-elect Donald Trump that the Obama administration was behind a United Nations Security Council resolution that condemned Israel’s settlements in Palestinian territory, though the ambassador did not offer the evidence when pressed in a CNN interview.
“We will present this evidence to the new administration through the appropriate channels, and if they want to share it with the American people they are welcome to do it,” Ron Dermer told CNN on Monday.
The Security Council voted 14-0 Friday on a resolution that condemns the settlements as a “flagrant violation of international law” and demands a halt to “all Israeli settlement activities” as “essential for salvaging the two-state solution.”
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The United States, which has veto power in the Security Council, abstained from the vote, breaking with longstanding U.S. policy to shield Israel from U.N. condemnation and allowing the resolution to pass.
The move prompted widespread backlash against Obama from Republicans and Democrats alike.
It also infuriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who already has a shaky relationship with Obama. Netanyahu accused the United States of “colluding” with the United Nations in secret and summoned the U.S. ambassador on Sunday.
In the Monday interview, Dermer also accused the United States of being behind the resolution.
“It’s an old story that the United Nations gangs up on Israel,” Dermer said. “What is new is that the United States did not stand up and oppose that gang up. And what is outrageous is that the United States was actually behind that gang up.”
When pressed by CNN host Don Lemon on what evidence Israel has, Dermer said, “We have clear evidence of it.” He added that Israel would give that evidence to the incoming Trump administration.
When pressed further on why it won’t release the evidence publicly now, Dermer reiterated that Israel would give the evidence to the next administration and said it’s up to those officials whether to make it public.
Dermer also said the reason U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro was summoned by Netanyahu was because the United States is “the only country where we have any expectation to actually stand with us at the United Nations.”
The Obama administration has dismissed allegations that it was behind the resolution.
“With respect to this resolution, we did not draft this resolution; we did not introduce this resolution,” Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, said in a press call Friday.
“The Egyptians, in partnership with the Palestinians, are the ones who began circulating an earlier draft of the resolution. The Egyptians are the ones who moved it forward yesterday. And we took the position that we did when it was put to a vote.”