Israeli ambassador: Obama more ‘outrageous’ than Trump

Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. says President Obama displays more shocking behavior than President-elect Donald Trump.

Ambassador Ron Dermer’s remarks come after Obama, in a rare move, declined to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution last week demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

“I know that a lot of the talk in the press for the first few days was how outrageous it is for a president-elect to weigh in and breach this policy of one president at a time,” Dermer told MSNBC’s Willie Geist on “Morning Joe” Thursday.

“But what I actually think is outrageous is for an outgoing administration, in the waning days of its presidency, to radically shift U.S. policy without the knowledge or support of the incoming administration,” Dermer added of last week’s resolution.

{mosads}Dermer also vowed the Israeli government would work with Trump and Congress to reverse Obama’s policies toward Israel.

“I think that there is damage now that has been done by this Security Council resolution. We are going to have to work with the new administration and with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans alike, to see how we can mitigate the damage of the resolution and hopefully, ultimately repeal it.”

The Security Council passed a resolution 14-0 on Dec. 23 condemning Israeli settlement-building in occupied territories disputed with the Palestinians. The United States abstained from the vote but didn’t veto the resolution, ending a longstanding policy of shielding Israel from U.N. reproaches.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unsuccessfully pressured the Obama administration to block the resolution before its passage.

Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, defended America’s abstention in a major speech Wednesday.

“If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic,” he said at the State Department. “It cannot be both, and it won’t ever really be at peace.”

Trump has repeatedly promised warmer U.S.-Israel ties following Netanyahu’s at-times frosty relationship with Obama. On Wednesday, Netanyahu praised Trump’s “warm friendship” on Twitter.

Critics say Israel’s settlement activities are an obstacle to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, since they allow Israeli residents to live on what could become part of a Palestinian state.