Egypt’s ambassador to Israel Hazem Khairat was reportedly summoned by the Israeli foreign ministry among other ambassadors whose countries had supported the UN resolution condemning Israel’s settlement project in Palestine, several Israeli media outlets said on Sunday afternoon.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry did not publish any official statement regarding the media reports circulated in Israel. Daily News Egypt contacted the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s media office; however, the ministry did not provide any details on the matter.
According to Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the Foreign Ministry on Sunday to summon the ambassadors of the countries which are members of the UN security council and with whom Israel has diplomatic ties. They were summoned for a talk in which Netanyahu was expected to reprimand them over the resolution.
The newspaper added that the Israeli foreign ministry has already summoned the ambassadors of China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Egypt, Japan, Ukraine, Angola, and Uruguay.
It predicted that since the summoning is taking place on Christmas, the majority of those ambassadors are on vacation in their countries, but it expected their deputies or officials of lower ranking to come instead.
The UN security council voted on Friday in favour of a draft resolution that reaffirms the illegality of Israeli settlements built within Palestinian territories, after Egypt did not file its resolution which was scheduled to be voted on Thursday.
The adopted resolution, filed by New Zealand, Senegal, Malaysia, and Venezuela, was approved by 14 countries. The United States abstained from voting and did not veto the resolution—a move that has been depicted as an explicit act of defiance to president-elect Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Egypt had prepared a draft resolution that demanded the immediate and complete cease of building Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. However, the country decided not to proceed with a voting session, claiming that more time was needed to review the resolution and make sure that there is a consensus from all the council’s state members. It further added that the US would probably have vetoed the resolution.
