Israeli Ambassador: Kerry Not Telling Truth, UN Resolution Could Not Have Passed Without American Support

Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danan speaks with MSNBC about Secretary of State John Kerry's <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/12/28/watch_live_john_kerry_speaks_about_plan_for_peace_between_israel_and_palestine.html">speech Wednesday about Israeli-Palestinian relations</a> and the resolution passed last week in the UN Security Council. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Israeli prime minister's office denounces `skewed' Kerry speech, says it `obsessively' focuses on settlements.</p>— The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/814172423004311556">December 28, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote> MSNBC ANCHOR: Ambassador, do you accept what Secretary Kerry has to say? DANNY DANAN, ISRAEL: No. Absolutely not. When you -- MSNBC: So he's lying in your view? You don't believe what he's saying? DANAN: Let's review the facts. In 2011 there was a very similar resolution. The U.S. vetoed it. In 2014, another similar resolution to the one passed on Friday, the U.S. blocked the vote without using the veto power. Recently in the last resolution we know the U.S. unfortunately was involved with the resolution. At the security council the U.S. is a pen holder on every resolution regarding Israel and the Middle East. You can ask other ambassadors who sit at the security council. No one would have supported such a resolution without the support of the United States. Even ambassadors approached me before the vote and told me we wanted to abstain but the minute we saw what the U.S. was doing and got the signal, we would support the resolution. MSNBC: To be clear and I'm going off what you are saying, do you believe secretary Kerry is lying to your government and lying to the American people? DANAN: I don't know what to tell you about that. I can only tell you the facts. If the U.S. was not supporting this resolution it wouldn't have passed. That's a fact. We have seen it in the security council in the past. How many times in the U.N. people are trying to gang up against Israel and pass resolutions against Israel? I have seen in the last year for dozens of times. The U.S. stood by us, but now think about the timing. Three weeks before the change of guard in the white house, all of the sudden it's happening? It's not a coincidence.</blockquote>