Egyptian officials have delayed a United Nations Security Council vote condemning the construction of Israeli settlements, following intervention from Israeli officials and president-elect Donald Trump.
The vote concerns the condemnation of Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
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The settlements have been widely condemned by the international community, and the UN has repeatedly stated that their construction constitutes a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Had it passed, the motion would have led to an official UN request for Israel to halt all further construction.
"Israeli settlement construction drew condemnation from the State Department earlier this year, in addition to the rebukes of more customary critics," says the Washington Examiner. The paper added that the criticism from the US has been "raising fears in Israel and among congressional Republicans that President Obama might not veto a resolution on the matter in the waning days of his presidency."
If the US had abstained from the vote, the motion would have passed.
In the run-up to the vote, the Israeli government turned to president-elect Donald Trump, speaking to him in a phonecall in which it is believed he was asked to comment on the matter "in order to put pressure on the Obama administration," says the BBC.
In a statement, Trump said: "The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed.
"As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations."
Egypt is understood to have delayed the vote following the input of Trump, in order to convene with other Arab League member states on the possible re-wording of the resolution.
Egypt has not specified the desired length of the delay, and Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote that "western diplomats with knowledge of the matter" had told the paper that the vote may be delayed "indefinitely."
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