Donald Trump appears to have intervened with two foreign governments in a move aimed at sidelining Barack Obama over a UN security council resolution criticising Israel’s settlements.

A resolution drafted by Egypt had demanded Israel halt all settlement activities in occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians and declared that existing settlements “have no legal validity”.

However, the vote on passing the resolution was abruptly postponed by Egypt on Thursday amid a series of contacts between Israel, Trump and his transition team and Egypt, which culminated in Trump calling Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Details of the contacts emerged on Friday morning as Israeli officials disclosed that the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had contacted Trump’s transition team on Thursday seeking help after learning that the US delegation at the UN, under the instruction of Obama, might not veto the resolution.

Those fears were given extra prominence late on Thursday when Reuters, citing “western officials” as sources, reported that the Obama administration intended to abstain from the vote, in a sharp break from recent US policy on resolutions concerning Israel.

New Zealand, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Senegal – all currently non-veto-wielding members of the security council, have warned Egypt that if it does not clarify by midnight on Friday whether it plans to call a vote, they reserve the right to move ahead with the text.

Although the US opposes the settlements, it has traditionally used its veto power as a permanent member of the security council to block resolutions condemning Israel, saying disputes between Israel and the Palestinians must be resolved through negotiations.

But after eight years of failed peace efforts during the Obama administration, Israel has expressed concern that the outgoing president could take an audacious stand to try to leave his mark on the region. In recent weeks the White House has been especially secretive about its deliberations.

On Thursday Trump issued a statement of opposition to any decision not to use the US veto on the resolution.

He said in a statement: “The resolution being considered at the United Nations security council regarding Israel should be vetoed. 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. This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis.”

The big loss yesterday for Israel in the United Nations will make it much harder to negotiate peace.Too bad, but we will get it done anyway! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2016

The timing of some of the contacts – between Netanyahu and Trump’s transition team, and between Trump’s team and Egypt to set up a phone call between leaders – remains unclear, but it appears Trump called Sisi after the cancellation of the vote.

Unlike Trump’s other recent interventions in US foreign policy, which have largely flagged up his often contradictory intentions, on this occasion he appears to have deliberately interposed himself in an issue of current US and international diplomacy.



Sisi’s spokesman, Alaa Yousef, said on Friday that the two had agreed to give Trump’s incoming administration a chance to tackle the issue.

“During the call they discussed regional affairs and developments in the Middle East, and in that context the draft resolution in front of the security council on Israeli settlement,” Yousef said.

In an unintended slip referring to Trump’s status, he added: “The presidents agreed on the importance of affording the new US administration the full chance to deal with all dimensions of the Palestinian case with a view of achieving a full and final settlement.”

Speculation that the US might not deploy its veto had been fuelled by the Obama administration’s frustration over recent political moves by Netanyahu’s rightwing coalition, not least over proposed measures to retroactively legalise 100 outposts built on private Palestinian land.

Israeli settlements have long been seen as a stumbling block in peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The UN maintains that settlements are illegal. UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months.

The peace process is in a period of profound uncertainty largely due to questions over what Trump’s Middle East policy might be.

Last week Trump nominated as his ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who has said Washington will not pressure Israel to curtail settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

Another key influence on Trump is said to be his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whose family charity has donated money to one of the occupied West Bank’s most hardline settlements.

Trump has signalled he will be far more sympathetic to Israel. His campaign platform made no mention of the establishment of a Palestinian state, a core policy objective of Democratic and Republican presidents over the past two decades.

He has vowed to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would put the US at odds with the Palestinians and the rest of the international community.

