President Barack Obama addressing the UN General Assembly on Sept. 20, 2016. Photo: UN Photo/Cia Pak.

JNS.org – The United States was reportedly prepared to break from longstanding policy this week and abstain from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding that Israel end all settlement activity.

According to NBC News, several diplomatic sources said that the Obama administration was planning not to veto the measure — scheduled for a vote Thursday — and reports indicate that Secretary of State John Kerry was preparing to give a major speech outlining America’s position.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the US not to go down the road of allowing one-sided UN resolutions to influence the Israel-Palestinian issue, with President-elect Donald Trump echoing that statement, saying that such a move would put the Jewish state “in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis.”

The resolution, which called on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem,” was originally proposed by Egypt, which then announced that it was withdrawing the proposal following diplomatic pressure from Israel and Trump.