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Israel Claims To Have ‘Ironclad’ Info The US Was Behind UN Resolution

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Jonah Bennett Contributor
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The Israeli government claimed Tuesday to possess “ironclad” information showing that the U.S., despite its denials, was behind the United Nations resolution decrying Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal.

According to a senior Israeli official who spoke with CNN, that detailed information, received from Arab sources, will soon be provided to GOP President-elect Donald Trump.

The Israeli side claimed U.S. involvement Sunday and is now reiterating that claim even more strongly Tuesday.

“We have ironclad information that emanates from sources in the Arab world and that shows the Obama administration helped craft this resolution and pushed hard for its eventual passage,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman David Keyes said. “We’re not just going to be a punching bag and go quietly into the night.”

Keyes declined to name the Arab sources or go into detail on how Israel obtained the information.

This official added that the U.S. attempted to shroud its role in the resolution by pushing for Palestinian official Saeb Erekat to in turn pressure Egypt to submit the document. Egypt, a country with security ties to Israel, later delayed the resolution. Other members quickly picked it up for a vote Friday.

According to Israel, the U.S. pressured these other members to pick up the slack left by Egypt.

With the resolution back in play again, Egypt then voted in favor of the resolution, but the U.S. abstained from a vote, in effect permitting it to pass, which earned instant rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He referred to the resolution as “shameful.”

The Department of State has been quick to deny allegations of involvement, but spokesman Mark Toner did say that the U.S. worked with the Egyptians and Palestinians once both parties expressed intent to move on the resolution.

“The idea this was pre-cooked in advance is not accurate,” Toner said.

Israel is placing a lot of hope on the incoming Trump administration for a favorable solution, given that Trump has been vocally and aggressively pro-Israel in his rhetoric.

But in the meantime, the Israeli government has approved hundreds of new settlement sites in East Jerusalem Monday, with Netanyahu saying, “we do not turn the other cheek.”

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