BICOM

Egypt decided yesterday to withdraw its own resolution condemning Israeli settlements, just hours before it was set for debate at the UN Security Council.

The Egyptian draft resolution, circulated to Security Council members on Wednesday evening, came as something of a surprise to Israeli officials, especially given the recent warm relations between Israel and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The resolution stated that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have “no legal validity and constitutes… a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution”. It also demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities” and that governments should “distinguish… between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967”.

In a dramatic u-turn yesterday, Egypt asked to postpone the vote on the resolution, giving no indication if or when it may be re-submitted. Media reports are suggesting that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly lobbied President al-Sisi during the day to withdraw the resolution.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu appealed to the US to “veto the anti-Israel resolution” via a video message on Facebook. US media sources yesterday suggested that the Obama administration would merely abstain in the vote in order to make to make a final, critical statement on settlements before leaving office.

Yesterday afternoon, incoming US President Donald Trump published a tweet saying that “the resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed”. In a longer statement on Facebook he said it put Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is ‘extremely unfair to all Israelis’.

Al-Sisi’s spokesman Alaa Yousef confirmed to Reuters that Egypt’s President and Trump had spoken yesterday about the draft resolution.

Media reports have suggested that Israel’s government lobbied Trump’s team to intervene, placing pressure on Cairo and handing Obama the dilemma of directly opposing his successor’s wishes. Maariv this morning describes it as “the first instance of cooperation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US president-elect Donald Trump”.

In New York, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon welcomed the resolution’s postponement but warned “this issue is not yet resolved”.

Also yesterday, France announced that it will host a peace conference involving around 70 countries on 15 January to try to advance a two-state solution. Israeli and Palestinian representatives will not be invited, but will be briefed after the event.