The spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday criticized the Obama administration following a recent United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn the building of new Israeli settlements in disputed territory.

"It's very disappointing to see this departure from U.S. policy, this abandonment of Israel at the U.N.," spokesman David Keyes said on CNN.

"And the highlighting of what amounts to tangential issues to peace. Peace can be forged when, at long last, the Palestinians recognize our very right to exist and no longer call Tel Aviv a settlement."

Keyes said Netanyahu has been in touch with both the current administration and the incoming one, "as is only natural."

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He said the U.S. administration should be asked if it will "veto any future resolutions against Israel at the United Nations."

"And the answer to that should be an unequivocal yes," he said, echoing language used by the prime minister.

"They should veto it, because friends don't take friends to the Security Council. We can have a disagreement about that, but let us focus on the core issues."

Last week, the Security Council voted 14-0 on a resolution that condemns Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory as a "flagrant violation" of international law and demands a halt to "all Israeli settlement activities," which is "essential for salvaging the two-state solution."

The United States abstained from the vote, breaking with longstanding U.S. policy to shield Israel from U.N. condemnation and allowing the resolution to pass.