Ex-Israeli officials say John Bolton would often tip them off to U.S. plans at the U.N.
During his time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton would regularly tip off Israel's U.N. ambassador about how the U.S. planned to vote, so Israel could try change the outcome, The Daily Beast reports.
Dan Gillerman, Israel's ambassador to the U.N. in 2006, told The Daily Beast that Bolton, President Trump's incoming national security adviser, would call him to say "the United States mission to the U.N. was about to vote against Israel and asked that I alert the prime minister, who at the time was Ehud Olmert. In more than one case the prime minister called the president, who was then George W. Bush, and got him to overrule the State Department."
One example took place in August 2006, when the U.N. Security Council was trying to end a month-long war in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. Because Israel and Lebanon had no diplomatic relations, France was representing Lebanon, and Bolton called Gillerman in the middle of the night to say he needed to call Olmert and tell him Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "sold you out to the French." Gillerman said he contacted Olmert and "that actually brought about a total change in the final resolution," but wouldn't share any additional details.
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In her 2011 autobiography, Rice said she learned about Bolton sharing information with the Israelis "several years later." Olmert told The Daily Beast that Bolton "was and is an excellent friend to Israel," and Gillerman said he "was doing his job but at the same time looking out for the interests of Israel."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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