Israel says U.S. pushed for U.N. rebuke

Arab sources cited for ‘ironclad information’ on help; Obama team denies it

FILE -- This Oct. 22, 2016 file photo, shows a general view of housing in the Israeli settlement of Revava, near the West Bank city of Nablus.
FILE -- This Oct. 22, 2016 file photo, shows a general view of housing in the Israeli settlement of Revava, near the West Bank city of Nablus.

JERUSALEM -- Doubling down on its public break with the Obama administration, the Israeli government said Tuesday that it had received "ironclad" information from Arab sources that the United States actively helped craft last week's U.N. resolution declaring Israeli settlements in occupied territories illegal.

The allegation, which was denied by the State Department, further strained relations between Israel and the outgoing U.S. administration in the aftermath of Friday's vote, raising questions about whether the White House might take further action against settlements in President Barack Obama's final weeks in office.

With the U.S. expected to participate in an international peace conference in France next month and Secretary of State John Kerry planning a final policy speech today, the Palestinians hope to capitalize on the momentum. Israel's nationalist government is banking on the incoming Trump administration to undo the damage with redoubled support.

Although the U.S. has long opposed the settlements, it has generally used its Security Council veto to protect its ally from censure. On Friday, it abstained from a resolution calling settlements a "flagrant violation" of international law, allowing it to pass by a 14-0 margin.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had a cool relationship with Obama, called the resolution "shameful" and accused the U.S. of playing an active role in its passage.

On Tuesday, his spokesman went even further.

"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," David Keyes said. "We're not just going to be a punching bag and go quietly into the night."

He did not identify the Arab sources or say how Israel obtained the information. Israel has close security ties with Egypt, which was the original sponsor of last week's resolution and, as the lone Arab member of the Security Council, was presenting it at the Palestinians' request. Under heavy Israeli pressure, Egypt delayed the resolution indefinitely -- but other members presented it for a vote a day later. Egypt ended up voting in favor of the measure.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Kerry would lay out his vision for Israeli-Palestinian peace in the speech today.

"He feels it's his duty in his waning weeks and days as secretary of state to lay out what he believes is a way to a peaceful two-state solution in the Middle East," Toner said.

Toner also rejected Israeli allegations of conspiring against Israel, saying Egypt and the Palestinians drafted the resolution and the U.S. worked with them on the language only after the intention to go forward was clear.

"The idea this was precooked in advance is not accurate," he said.

The Obama administration has acknowledged that it considered the possibility of abstaining on a settlements resolution over the past year as various drafts were circulated by different countries. In announcing the abstention, U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power referred to continued Israeli settlement construction and a recent effort to retroactively legalize dozens of illegally built settlement outposts.

A White House official said the U.S. was approached repeatedly by countries urging it to let the resolution pass, yet replied only by saying the U.S. would feel forced to veto any resolution that didn't also criticize the Palestinians for inciting violence. The official wasn't authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity.

The Palestinians, with strong international backing, seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967, as part of an independent state. They say continued Israeli settlement undermines that goal, since some 600,000 Israelis already live in these areas.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Tuesday that in recent days senior government ministers had been presented with information suggesting the France conference will outline a plan for peace that will immediately be brought to the U.N. Security Council for a vote before Jan. 20, when President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House.

Netanyahu warned ministers that Friday's resolution on the settlements might not be the last measure taken by the international community regarding Israel and that there will probably be additional steps, Haaretz reported, quoting an unnamed official.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that he hopes the France conference will lead to concrete measures. "We hope this conference comes up with a mechanism and timetable to end the occupation," Abbas told a meeting of his Fatah party. "The [resolution] proves that the world rejects the settlements, as they are illegal."

Husam Zumlot, an adviser to Abbas, said the Palestinians want the resolution to serve as a "foundation" for any future peace talks. He also said the Palestinians would use the text to bolster their case at the International Criminal Court, where they are trying to push a war-crimes case against Israel over settlement policies.

French officials expect some 70 nations to participate in the Jan. 15 conference. Israel and the Palestinians are not expected to be invited, though officials are considering inviting the Israeli and Palestinian leaders for follow-up talks. Abbas has expressed openness to this, while Netanyahu has chafed, saying international dictates undermine negotiations.

The Israeli government meanwhile is pushing ahead building plans in the areas that the Security Council declared as occupied Palestinian territory.

The Jerusalem municipal planning committee planned to review requests today to build hundreds of apartments in east Jerusalem, according to its agenda. That would contradict the terms of Resolution 2334, which demands that Israeli halt all building in areas it won in the 1967 Middle East War and brands construction there illegal.

Information for this article was contribtued by Josh Lederman of The Associated Press; by Ruth Eglash of The Washington Post; and by Michael S. Arnold, Udi Segal, David Wainer, Jonathan Ferziger and Fadwa Hodali of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 12/28/2016

Upcoming Events