Egypt delays draft resolution condemning Israeli expansion

Security Council vote deferred just before meeting

JERUSALEM // Under heavy Israeli pressure, Egypt yesterday delayed a UN vote on a proposed Security Council resolution to condemn Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

News of the delay came a few hours before the vote was to take place.

The delay was a setback to Palestinian efforts to censure Israel over its settlements, built on occupied territory where the Palestinians hope to establish an independent state. The vote would also have been one of the last opportunities for US president Barack Obama to take a stance against Israeli settlement building after years of failed peace efforts – but doing so could have reignited a dispute with a close US ally in the waning days of his tenure.

Several diplomats and western officials said Cairo postponed the vote because of pressure from the Israelis.

Egypt was meeting with Arab League diplomats to review the text. Diplomats said there was no time frame for when the vote may now occur and it could be put off indefinitely.

The draft resolution, circulated by Egypt, demands that Israel stop settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and declares that all existing settlements have no legal validity and are a breach of international law.

A UN Security Council resolution would be more than symbolic since it carries the weight of international law.

The US had been considering an abstention on the matter, potentially rocking American-Israeli relations, officials said, although they would not say whether Mr Obama had made a final decision.

Yesterday, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian during clashes in Kafr Aqab, north of Jerusalem.

A Security Council resolution would be more than symbolic as it carries the weight of international law