GENEVA — The United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has delayed publishing a database of companies doing business with Israeli settlements in occupied territories, garnering praise from pro-Israel groups and outrage from human rights organizations eager to see the report released immediately.

The United Nations’ human rights office has worked for three years to compile a database of companies that have directly enabled, supported or profited from the settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.

The office was already under intense scrutiny after previous delays in publishing the database. Israel and its allies fear that the database will be used as a blacklist to boycott or penalize companies that do business in the occupied territories. And some businesses are concerned that the database could set a dangerous precedent by holding companies accountable on human rights issues beyond their control.

The United Nations’ Human Rights Council, a 47-member body that has often been accused of anti-Israel bias, voted in 2016 to mandate the creation of the database. In a letter to the president of the council that was released on Tuesday, Ms. Bachelet said she needed more time to consider it “given the novelty of the mandate and its legal, methodological and factual complexity.”