Egypt is fighting a fateful battle in the UN Security Council against the Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories, as it presented a draft resolution to the Council calling for "immediate and complete cessation of all settlement activities".
The draft resolution makes clear that "settlements are a major obstacle to the realization of the principle of a two-state solution and a comprehensive and just lasting peace between the Palestinians and Israelis."
The resolution also calls for stopping violence against civilians, including acts of terrorism incitement, provocation and destruction, as well as the accountability of those involved in such acts.
The resolution does not call on Palestinians to stop incitement against Israel, as demanded by the occupation authorities.
The bill was met with a of display shock in Israel, as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called on the United States to veto the resolution to stop it in its tracks.
The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, attacked the bill, describing it in a statement as "the height of hypocrisy." He added that the bill only rewards the Palestinian inciting policy.
Danon expected the US not to allow such a bill to be passed by the Security Council.
An Israeli official told Haaretz newspaper that Tel Aviv is surprised by the timing of the submission of the draft resolution, as Israeli foreign ministry officials expected the step but after the departure of US President Barack Obama from the White House on January 20, especially after Arab foreign ministers failed to agree on a date for the submission of the bill.
Times of Israel newspaper quoted the French ambassador to Tel Aviv as saying that France would vote for the bill. The paper added that the White House refused to comment on the bill in the meantime.
