Egypt delays vote on settlements after Israeli pressure, Trump tweet
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS | Thu Dec 22, 2016 | 5:23pm EST
Egypt delays vote on settlements after Israeli pressure, Trump tweet
By Michelle Nichols and Jeffrey Heller | UNITED NATIONS/JERUSALEM
Egypt postponed a U.N. Security Council vote on Thursday on a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building and diplomats said Cairo had acted under pressure from Israel and to avoid alienating U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
A vote would have forced U.S. President Barack Obama to decide in his last month in office whether to shield Israel with a veto, or, by abstaining, to register criticism of the building on occupied land that the Palestinians want for a state.
Obama has been considering whether to lay out parameters for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement or to allow a critical resolution through the Council before he steps down in the hopes this might ultimately help to end the conflict.
U.S. 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.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-un-idUSKBN14B033