Israel is "deeply, deeply disappointed" by the actions concerning a United Nation Security Council resolution aimed at ending the nation's West Bank settlements, and has information that shows "beyond a shadow of a doubt" the Obama administration was behind the action, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.
"Some of that information is sensitive, and so I can't share it on live TV, but i have seen the information myself with my own eyes and I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that that is exactly what happened," spokesman David Keyes told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
The United States abstained from the Security Council's action, leading Netanyahu to accuse the Obama administration of initiating the resolution, coordinating on its wording and demanding that it be passed, all of which the White House has denied.
"And it's a travesty, and Israel is deeply, deeply disappointed because of the historic position of the United States has been to protect Israel at the United Nations, particularly in the security council against these outrageous resolutions," said Keys.
"We're disappointed because this resolution actually calls, if you can believe it, the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory. A place where Jews have yearned to return to, have lived adjacent to, have vaunted as one of our holiest sites for literally thousands of years."
But according to the resolution, the wall is in occupied Palestinian territory, said Keyes, and that "should give us all pause that a terrorist group like Hamas is celebrating this decision."
The vote pushes peace much further away at a time while Israel is "eager" to work out a peace deal with its Palestinian neighbors, but "tragically and unfortunately, they even refuse to sit with us," said Keyes.
The spokesman, though, wouldn't directly accuse the White House of lying about the issue.
"I can't speak for the White House," Keyes told the program. "I can only speak to what I have seen and what I know and what the prime minister knows."
The Obama administration's denials, though, are "not accurate with the information that I have. That's all I can say about that," said Keyes. "I hope that it soon becomes clear what is being spoken about, but I can tell you, having seen it myself, it is unequivocal that the United States, that the Obama administration, more appropriately, was behind this United Nations resolution, pushed for it, lobbied for it.
"And it's a real tragedy because we should be working together to advance peace."
Netanyahu, meanwhile, "favors two states for two peoples and wants to work out a peace deal," Keyes continued, but unfortunately, the "Palestinian authority, the fact they're refusing to sit with the prime minister, the fact they're paying anyone who murders an Israeli a monthly salary.
"Let that sink in. They pay a monthly salary to anyone who murders an Israeli. Does that bring peace closer? Does the naming of soccer stadiums and schools after mass murders push it closer or farther away? The answer is self-evident."
Even though the Security Council passed its resolution by a 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining, Israel will not abide by it, Keyes said, as "it's so outrageous, so immoral, so antithetical to peace."
President-elect Donald Trump has been slamming the United Nations on Twitter, and Keyes said Netanyahu agrees that the organization, "which was birthed as a moral force, is dying as a moral farce."
Instead of dealing with countries with clear human rights issues, Keyes continued, the Security Council attacks Israel, "a liberal country with free press, with free elections, with women's rights, with gay rights, and it doesn't quite have time to get to those hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have been slaughtered, to the North Korean gulags."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.