Mr. Netanyahu wrote a quick response: “President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel!” He included American and Israeli flag emoji at the end of the message.

The housing units scheduled for Wednesday’s vote had been on the agenda since before the United Nations resolution, and for their part, Jerusalem officials had vowed to proceed with the new homes as a show of defiance. The deputy mayor, who leads the planning committee, has said they would be the first installment on 5,600 additional homes in East Jerusalem, and he promised not to be deterred by the United Nations.

Even as attention focused primarily on the postponement of the initial 618 units, an advocacy group critical of Israeli settlement policy noted that the same municipal committee on Wednesday approved a four-story building on a vacant plot in East Jerusalem as part of what it called a takeover campaign by a settler organization. Hundreds of Palestinian residents face possible eviction, according to the group, known as Ir Amim.

Mr. Netanyahu was so angry about the United Nations resolution that he summoned the American ambassador to castigate the Obama administration and retaliated against other members of the Security Council by canceling diplomatic visits, recalling envoys and cutting back financial aid.

In the hours before the vote, he told the foreign minister of New Zealand, one of the sponsors of the resolution, that its passage would be “a declaration of war” against Israel, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

At least one member of Mr. Netanyahu’s cabinet suggested that some people in the prime minister’s party were worried about going too far in attacking the United States, which, under Mr. Obama, just agreed to a record $38 billion, 10-year security aid package.

Yisrael Katz, who is both the transportation minister and the intelligence minister, echoed Mr. Netanyahu’s criticism of what he called “an extreme step” by the Security Council but added that Israel needed the United States and must treat it with respect.