UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council on Thursday postponed a vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt its settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem, diplomats said.

Egypt requested the delay to allow time for consultations on the measure, but no new time or date was scheduled, according to diplomats.

Egypt circulated the draft late on Wednesday and a vote was initially scheduled for 3pm on Thursday.

The move prompted immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution.

A similar resolution was vetoed by the United States in 2011, and it remained uncertain if the measure would be adopted this time.

Israeli settlements are seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months.

Some in the Israeli government view Trump’s victory as an opportunity to expand settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian land occupied by Israel for nearly 50 years.

Our correspondent adds: President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday called upon President Barack Obama’s administration to veto a UN resolution that denounces Israeli settlements, backing the Israeli government and weighing in on a highly sensitive topic weeks before he takes office.In what appeared to be a full-court press on the topic, Trump used email, Twitter and Facebook to demand that the resolution be vetoed. Trump’s decision to make his stance known was striking in that, in theory, such matters are supposed to be left to the president still in charge to avoid sending mixed signals on US foreign policy.

“As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations,” Trump said in his emailed statement.

“This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis.”

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2016