In a previously unnoticed video, former Foreign Ministry director and ambassador Alon Liel told leftist activists how he came very close to tipping a critical UN vote against Israel.

Liel told the activists that he advised Palestinian Authority and Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), through a contact person, to call three heads of state and “cry on the phone” in order to win a ninth vote for a UN Security Council resolution recognizing the “Palestine” as a member state and demanding an Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 lines within 12 months.

The vote took place in the UNSC on December 30, 2014. In the end, Abbas did not act upon Liel’s advice but Binyamin Netanyahu apparently did, according to Liel himself. Netanyahu called the heads of state and made sure they voted against the resolution.

He added that people whom he identified only as “the guys” told him after the matter that the Shabak (Israel Security Agency) had listened in on his phone call to the Palestinian contact and advised Netanyahu to make the calls.

It is an open question who “the guys” were, although Liel appears to have a good relationship with former Shabak heads Yuval Diskin and now-Yesh Atid MK Yaakov Perry.

The disastrous effect that the UNSC vote would have had on Israel was also detailed by Liel, who was clearly aiming for it to happen. As can be seen in a second video portion of his meeting, he explained that the “big BDS” effect on Israel, in the form of cultural, sports and economic sanctions, could only be put into effect if the UNSC called on Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria, and Israel was seen as violating a UNSC timetable.

Ex ambassador Liel has been actively aiding and abetting BDS (boycott divestment and sanctions) against Israel, including a recent successful bid to prevent Brazil from accepting former Yesha Council head Dani Dayan as Israel’s ambassador, because of his former leadership role in Judea and Samaria. 

Liel revealed what many would call his clearly subversive activity in a meeting with activists from a group called “Warriors for Peace,” which includes both Jews and Arabs. The meeting was held in Jerusalem on January 6, 2015, and the video was uploaded by the leftist Social TV website shortly afterward but received little notice until now.

Liel is currently at the center of a firestorm after activists secretly recorded a meeting he recently held with another ultra-leftist group, Breaking the Silence, in which he suggested among other things working to get Israel expelled from the UN.

The recording is soon to be released in full.