Former national security adviser John Bolton blasted President Joe Biden after the United Nations Security Council rejected a U.S.-backed resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.
In a radio interview aired Sunday on The Cats Roundtable, hosted by John Catsimatidis, Bolton called the resolution "very detrimental to Israel."
Russia and China — permanent members of the council with veto power — voted against it.
"The Biden administration had proposed a resolution, really, very detrimental to Israel and its efforts to defeat the Hamas terrorists," Bolton said, adding the Friday veto by China and Russia was "such a slap in the face of the Biden administration."
"It shows that [Russia President] Vladimir Putin and [China leader] Xi Jinping … they view Biden as weak and ineffective and that Biden can't get out of his own way."
"That episode in the Security Council shows how weak the U.S. is perceived to be around the world," Bolton asserted, adding: "The country will suffer as a result of it."
Bolton said the rejection was "something almost unimaginable in the U.N. Security Council."
The Biden-backed resolution was seen as a shift for the United States, which had previously blocked any attempts to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, The Hill noted. The resolution also called for the release of hostages, since Hamas is believed to be holding about 100 hostages still alive in Gaza.
Bolton charged the Biden administration shift is "not linked to an agreement to exchange the hostages" to give Israel what it wants and said the proposal is "what the Europeans wanted, it's what Hamas wanted."
He also argued Hamas wants a cease-fire to get "the same relief from Israel's attack on their underground tunnels."
In the past, the United States has vetoed three previous resolutions before the Security Council that called for a cease-fire without any conditions like calling for the release of hostages, The Hill noted.
But the new stance signals the Biden administration has shifted gears, as more humanitarian aid is delivered to civilians in Gaza and pressure mounts against Israel's continued fight.
More than 31,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the war and the U.N. warns there's famine in the territory's north.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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