Exposure: Political sources provided new details on the 2016 drama, then President Obama promoted decision to establish Palestinian state • "We asked, Putin agreed and Obama withdrew"

• Switch roles. Obama and Putin

  Photo: 

  Reuters, IP

The drama that took place between Israel, Russia and the US four years ago, behind the scenes of the UN Security Council, is now being revealed for the first time. 

The details reveal Russia's rare willingness to veto Israel to block a decision against Israel led by former US President Barack Obama at the UN Security Council. The decision was to force Israel to establish a Palestinian state on the basis of 1948 lines. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu revealed six months ago at a Ma'aleh Adumim election conference that he had asked "his friend, a leader of one of the veto powers in the Security Council whom I have a very good relationship with," to oppose the resolution. The same leader, according to Netanyahu, "stopped it." 

In a closed meeting held in recent days, Netanyahu revealed more details on the matter. 

Putin initially refused

Reminder: At the end of Obama's presidency, after Donald Trump has already been elected president but has yet to enter the White House, the US initiated Security Council Resolution 2334, stating that Israel violates international law by its presence in the occupied territories in '67. Coordinates the difficult decision with the Palestinians and European countries, but without the American defense it could not be stopped.

Unfortunately, for the first time, Netanyahu contacted Putin on a phone call on November 24, 2016, two weeks after Trump's election. 

PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a Special Election Speech // Photo: Benjamin Netanyahu's Facebook Page

He explained to the Russian president that the decision by Obama's organizer would undermine stability in the region and hurt Israel, and asked Putin to announce his intention to veto the Security Council's decision to thwart the decision.

However, Putin rejected the request. On December 23, 2016, the Security Council approved the difficult decision, and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, eventually abstained. 

Obama's insistence

But Obama did not settle for that. Although he has less than a month left in the White House, he and his people have begun organizing another resolution against Israel in the Security Council, this time more rigidly. This decision was supposed to force Israel to establish a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1948 lines. Whoever warned about it in real time was Israel's outgoing ambassador to UN Danny Danon. 

Netanyahu tried his luck again with the Russian president. In another phone call, Putin explained that the next decision that Obama initiated would severely hurt Israel and could undermine regional stability. 

This time, Russian President Putin was convinced and informed Netanyahu that if the resolution goes to a vote, Russia will topple it. 

According to what Netanyahu told attendees, the Russian intention to torpedo the US move against Israel became known to Obama. The former US president, at the end of his term, understood that if Russia were to veto Israel on the Security Council, it would severely undermine the credibility of the United States as an ally of Israel and its own image in the Jewish community - and so it decided to shelve the initiative. 

Shortly before this drama, after Donald Trump had already been elected president but had not yet entered the White House, the United States initiated Security Council Resolution 2334, which stated that Israel's presence in the 1967 territories violated international law.