DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And let's go now to Israel where people are still absorbing a U.S. decision not to cast a veto at the U.N. Security Council last week. The United States allowed a resolution to pass which is critical of Jewish settlement activity on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. All this is a closing chapter in a sour relationship between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Netanyahu opened his Cabinet meetings Sunday with an accusation. He said the Obama administration orchestrated the U.N. Security Council resolution behind the scenes.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: As I told John Kerry on Thursday, friends don't take friends to the Security Council.
ESTRIN: Egypt initially proposed the resolution. U.S. officials deny involvement, but the White House said it let the resolution pass to reflect the international consensus that there is no legal validity to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, lands that Israel captured in 1967 and that the international community wants to see as part of a Palestinian state under a peace agreement. The Israeli leader said the fate of settlements should not be dictated by the U.N., and he said he spoke with U.S. lawmakers who agree.
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NETANYAHU: I'm encouraged by the statements of our friends in the United States, Republicans and Democrats alike. They understand how reckless and destructive this U.N. resolution was.
ESTRIN: That includes President-elect Donald Trump, who called on Obama to veto the resolution.
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NETANYAHU: I look forward to working with those friends and with the new administration when it takes office next month.
ESTRIN: Netanyahu took the rare step of summoning the U.S. ambassador to Israel to protest the U.S. role in the resolution. Opposition lawmakers say Netanyahu brought on the U.N. resolution with his recent moves to accommodate Israeli settlers. Right-wing members of Netanyahu's government say Israel's response should be to give up on the idea of a Palestinian state and annex the West Bank.
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MINISTER OF CULTURE AND SPORT MIRI REGEV: (Foreign language spoken).
ESTRIN: No, Culture Minister Miri Regev told Israel Army Radio, the West Bank is not under dispute. It's directly connected to Jewish heritage. Netanyahu echoed that sentiment when he lit Hanukkah candles last night at the Western Wall, the Jewish holy site in Jerusalem that Israel captured in 1967. The Western Wall is not occupied, Netanyahu said, the other places are not occupied either. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Jerusalem. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
