United Nations: The United States intended to allow the UN Security Council to approve a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building, two Western officials said on Thursday, a major reversal of US practice of protecting Israel from such criticism. Egypt, which had proposed the draft resolution, abruptly put off a vote that had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon and diplomats said Cairo had acted under pressure from Israel and to avoid alienating US President-elect Donald Trump.
The two Western officials said that US President Barack Obama had intended to abstain from the vote, a relatively rare step by the United States to register criticism of the building on occupied land that the Palestinians want for a state.US officials have voiced growing fears that a “two-state” solution is imperiled by Israeli settlement building and so have been more willing to voice open criticism of it, including, the two officials said, via Thursday’s planned vote.
