Israel's ambassador to the U.S. claims to have proof that America was behind controversial UN resolution — but he'll only share it with Donald Trump

Israel's ambassador claims to have proof but will leave it up to the Trump administration whether to publicize it

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published December 27, 2016 5:22PM (EST)

In this photo provided by the United Nations, members of the United Nations Security council vote at the United Nations headquarters on Friday, Dec. 23, 2016, in favor of condemning Israel for its practice of establishing settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. (AP)
In this photo provided by the United Nations, members of the United Nations Security council vote at the United Nations headquarters on Friday, Dec. 23, 2016, in favor of condemning Israel for its practice of establishing settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. (AP)

Israel's ambassador to the United States claims that he has evidence of the Obama administration colluding with the United Nations on Friday's resolution condemning Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, but insists he will only share it with President-elect Donald Trump.

"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's Don Lemon on Monday.

During his interview, Dermer echoed the accusation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also denounced the United States for allegedly "colluding" with the United Nations.

"It’s an old story that the United Nations gangs up on Israel," Dermer told Lemon. "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."

“With respect to this resolution, we did not draft this resolution; we did not introduce this resolution,” said Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, during a press call on Friday. He blamed the resolution on Egypt and the Palestinians.

Various Republican politicians have been expressing outrage at America's decision to abstain from the UN vote instead of working to stop it. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tweeted that America should stop funding the UN unless the resolution is reversed, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina threatened a "break" from international organizations unless they can be "more responsible," and Trump himself tweeted on Monday that the UN "is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!"


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Barack Obama Benjamin Netanyahu Donald Trump Israel United Nations