Report: Israel to build more settlements in defiance of UN

The Israeli government says it plans to build thousands of new housing units in East Jerusalem despite a United Nations Security Council vote last week to condemn such settlements.

Jerusalem will approve 600 units Wednesday as part of a planned 5,600 homes to be built in East Jerusalem, according to an official cited by The New York Times.

The announcement comes after the Security Council formally voted to condemn Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The United States abstained from the vote, infuriating the Israeli government, which had called for a veto.

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President-elect Donald Trump pushed for the resolution to be vetoed, arguing such a move “puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis.”

The Israeli government claims it has evidence that the Obama White House was behind the U.N. resolution and has reduced diplomatic relations with 12 countries on the Security Council as a result of the resolution.

The units to be announced Wednesday were planned before the resolution passed.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meir Turgeman, the committee chairman for the settlement planning, told Israel Hayom that he would not let the resolution deter plans, according to the Times.

“I won’t get worked up over the U.N. or any other organization that might try to dictate to us what to do in Jerusalem,” Turgeman said. “I hope that the government and the new administration in the United States will give us momentum to continue.”