Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

World leaders who issued Hanukkah greetings after backing the “shameful” anti-settlement UN Security Council resolution last week do not understand the holiday’s meaning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday.

The point of Hanukkah, Netanyahu said in a message posted on his Facebook page, is to “remember the victory of the Hasmoneans in a revolt against the Greeks, culminating with the miracle of the oil and the rededication of the Temple.”

“The battles that took place as part of the revolt happened right here, on both sides of the ‘Green Line,’ in the hills of Modi’in,” the prime minister noted. “The Hasmoneans purified the Temple and lit the menorah on the Temple Mount, which the same countries that supported the UN decision decided to call ‘occupied Palestinian territory.’”

Netanyahu continued, “How is it possible to offer us best wishes for Hanukkah and at the same time deny our deep connection to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and other places in our land?”

“In spite of the opposition of the UN Security Council, we were here and we will remain here,” he concluded.

As reported by The Algemeiner on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry drew a flurry of ire and scorn in response to a Hanukkah greeting he tweeted on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the US allowed the resolution to pass.

A similar greeting posted by the White House on Twitter on Saturday also attracted a slew of responses critical of the American abstention from the Security Council vote.