U.N. vote to demand Israel halt West Bank settlements has been postponed, sources say

Reporting from JERUSALEM  —  An expected U.N. vote on a resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement activities has been postponed, according to a pair of Western diplomats in New York.

The diplomats, both of whom have knowledge of the process, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

One diplomat didn’t give a time frame for when the vote may now occur. The other said the matter has been postponed indefinitely as Egypt has bowed to Israeli pressure.

The vote, previously expected Thursday, would have provided one of the last opportunities for President Obama to take a stand against Israeli settlement building after years of failed peace efforts, but doing so could reignite a dispute with a close ally in the waning days of his tenure.

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

In an overnight tweet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote: “The U.S. should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.”

Israel has expressed concern that Obama, who has had an icy relationship with Netanyahu, will take an audacious step in his last weeks in office to revive the peace process, but U.S. officials have said he has nearly ruled out any major last-ditch effort to pressure Israel.

A Security Council resolution would be more than symbolic since it carries the weight of international law. In the past, Obama has refused to endorse anti-Israel resolutions in the council, saying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved through negotiations.

Still, the U.S. and much of the international community consider Israel’s West Bank settlements illegitimate and an obstacle to peace. Netanyahu rejects such claims, blaming the failure of peace efforts on the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel’s Jewish identity.

Netanyahu and Obama have repeatedly clashed over Israel’s settlement policies. But even if Obama supports Thursday’s resolution, it is unclear what impact it will have. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in less than a month, has indicated a more sympathetic approach to Israel and appointed an ambassador who has been a supporter of the settler movement.

Nearly 600,000 Jewish settlers now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas the Palestinians want as part of their future state, along with the Gaza Strip. Israel captured those territories in the 1967 Mideast war.

Settlement construction has thrived under Obama’s watch, despite his administration’s constant condemnations, a sign of the limits of U.S. influence over its close ally. Obama has struggled to revive peace talks, which last collapsed in 2014.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, Obama for more than a year had considered giving a major speech describing his vision for a future peace deal or, in a more aggressive step, supporting a U.N. resolution laying out parameters for such a deal.

Although the goal would be to impart fresh urgency to the moribund peace process, either step would have been perceived as constraining Israel’s negotiating hand while strengthening the Palestinians’ argument on the world stage.

The U.N. vote presents Obama with an opportunity to display his impatience with Israel, but it’s not clear how he will proceed. The draft resolution’s language, challenging the legality of the settlements, is likely to be unacceptable to Washington.

A yearlong wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has tapered off in recent months but not halted completely, has further imperiled any peace efforts.

Earlier Thursday, the Israeli military said its forces shot and killed a Palestinian who was lobbing an explosive device at troops carrying out an operation in east Jerusalem. The forces were demolishing the home of a Palestinian who carried out an October attack in Jerusalem that killed a police officer and a civilian.

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UPDATES:

8:15 a.m.: This article was updated with news that the vote has been postponed.

This article was originally posted at 5:05 a.m.