UNSC Resolution 2334 was Planned by Kerry, Rice, and Erekat
By: jamesbaxley
The passing of the United Nations
Security Council Resolution 2334 with 14 votes, which condemns Israeli
settlement construction, has caused Israeli and U.S. relations to falter. This
is even in lieu of the Obama administration’s defense aid agreement for $38
billion over 10 years.
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| THE U.N. |
The Times goes on, "at the same time, a report in an Israeli daily
Tuesday night pointed to Britain helping draft the resolution and high drama in
the hours leading up to the vote, as Jerusalem tried to convince New Zealand to
bury the Security Council measure."
United States Secretary of State John
Kerry, in December told top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, that the U.S.
"was prepared to cooperate with the Palestinians at the Security
council," Israel’s Channel 1 TV said, quoting the Egyptian Al-Youm Al-Sabea newspaper.
White House National Security Council
official Ned Price described such a meeting as a “total fabrication.” Price
stands by his denial despite public documents highlighting the powwow between
[John] Kerry and senior Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat in December.
A White House official says that
“We’ve been entirely clear that this was an Egyptian resolution,” and that the
effort “did not originate with the White House.”
The claims that a meeting between
Kerry, Erekat, and White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice are not
correct have been disputed by multiple sources such as Jonathan Schanzer.
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| ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU |
Schanzer, a Middle East expert and
vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies,
explains that he spoke with U.S. officials in September. The U.S. official
admitted that “a U.N. measure of some shape or form was actively
considered.” Schanzer continues, “We know that this administration was at
a minimum helping to shape a final resolution at the U.N. and had been working
on this for months.”
“The fact is, the administration has
been flagged as being an active participant in this U.N. resolution,” Schanzer
said. “Now they wish to try to spin this as inconsequential. This was an
attempt by the administration to lead from behind, as they have done countless
times in the past and which has failed countless times in the past.”
In the article in Haaretz,
“Leaked Document: U.S. Colluded With Palestinians 10 Days Before UN Settlements
Vote” is authentic, the document, leaked to an Egyptian website, confirms some
of the claims voiced in Israel against Obama since the U.N. vote against the
settlements last week.
United
States Secretary of State John Kerry and White House National Security Adviser
Susan Rice told a Palestinian delegation in Washington 10 days before the UNSC
passed a resolution against Israeli settlements that the U.S. would not impose
a veto on such a resolution if its wording was balanced, according to a
document released by an Egyptian news site.
The document released by the Egyptian
website appears to be a summary of the meeting between the U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry, White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and senior
Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat. If the document is authentic, it was probably
leaked by officials in the Egyptian government.
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| U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY |
The State Department denied the
contents of the document. State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner
responded to the report and denied the contents of the document. Toner said
that Kerry did not discuss the American position regarding the Security Council
resolution in his meeting with Erekat and the Palestinian delegation.
If the document is authentic, then it
would justify Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criticism against
President Barack Obama, “From the information that we have, we have no doubt
that the Obama administration initiated it, stood behind it, coordinated on the
wording and demanded that it be passed,” Netanyahu said at his weekly
cabinet meeting on Christmas Day.
In his remarks Sunday, Netanyahu also acknowledged
that the U.S. and Israel have long disagreed regarding settlement policy, but
said they had until now refrained from taking their disagreements to the
Security Council.
“As I told [U.S. Secretary of State]
John Kerry on Thursday, friends don’t take friends to the Security Council,”
Netanyahu said.