The effort to push through an anti-settlements resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday constituted a diplomatic “hit” by US President Barack Obama against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the settlement enterprise, according to a senior source in Jerusalem quoted by Israeli television on Thursday night.
The resolution, introduced by Egypt overnight Wednesday-Thursday, was withdrawn by Cairo hours before it was scheduled for a vote on Thursday evening.
According to Israel’s Channel 2, Egypt agreed to withdraw the resolution after President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was sent “messages” by President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team urging him to do so.
An Egyptian diplomatic source told Reuters that Cairo may have withdrawn the resolution in order to maintain positive ties with the incoming Trump administration. “We [Arab states] are all looking for a way to ensure constructive relations with this new administration. It’s not clear if this (resolution) helps that, or if it might even hinder,” the unnamed diplomat said.
Unconfirmed reports earlier Thursday claimed the Obama Administration was preparing to abstain on the vote, and wouldn’t employ its veto.
Secretary of State John Kerry had been scheduled to give an address, at which he was reportedly preparing to explain the diplomatic gambit, but that speech was canceled when Egypt withdrew the resolution.
Arab foreign ministers were meeting in Cairo late Thursday to discuss next steps in the diplomatic tussle, and the same resolution, or others, could yet be introduced within hours or days.
“All the signs show that this was a [diplomatic] hit by Obama against Netanyahu and the settlements,” the TV report quoted the senior Israeli official saying.
While that “hit” was temporarily halted, the tussle at the UN Security Council is not over, it added.
The Netanyahu government has been braced for the possibility of the Obama Administration enabling a move against settlements. That concern will persist until the presidential handover on January 20.
The Jerusalem Post reports: A day filled with diplomatic drama ended Thursday evening, when Egypt withdrew an anti-settlement resolution it intended to submit to the UN Security Council just over an hour after President-elect Donald Trump came out squarely against it.
A day filled with diplomatic drama ended Thursday evening, when Egypt withdrew an anti-settlement resolution it intended to submit to the UN Security Council just over an hour after President-elect Donald Trump came out squarely against it.
“The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed,” Trump said in a statement.
“The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed,” Trump said in a statement.
Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, posted on Twitter that Israel “deeply appreciates” Trump’s “clear and unequivocal call” to veto the resolution.
The officials said that Netanyahu, Foreign Ministry officials and members of the National Security Council worked through various channels – talking to leaders in a number of different countries – to get the Egyptians to rescind the resolution. The Trump team was among those contacted.
Netanyahu, who convened the Security Council in the late afternoon to discuss what he thought would be the upcoming vote, instead briefed them on the diplomatic developments behind the scene that led to its cancellation. It was not immediately clear whether a vote on the matter would be rescheduled for a later date.
Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon urged caution, saying that while “the delay of the vote is an important step,” the issue is not yet resolved. “We are continuing our diplomatic efforts on all fronts to ensure that this disgraceful resolution will not pass the Security Council,” he said.
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