The UN Security Council. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The American and European effort to have the UN adopt the recent Quartet report on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was derailed by Egypt, the Hebrew news website Walla reported Friday.

Quoting Western diplomats, Walla said the EU and the United States wanted the council to endorse the findings and recommendations of the July 1 report, which called on both sides to take measures to advance the two-state solution. However, Egypt, which is a non-permanent member of the council, successfully stopped that effort.

Negotiations on a draft presidential statement — a non-binding document issued by the president of the council — began shortly after the report was presented to the UN, and, according to diplomats, the EU and the US were also exploring the possibility of drafting a full-fledged resolution calling on the two sides to embrace the report.

The report was critical of both Israel and the Palestinians. The diplomats said Egypt was under pressure by the Palestinian Authority to prevent any official statement on the report because of its rebuke of Palestinian incitement and terrorism.