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The Latest: Israel delays vote on settlement annexation

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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A worker stands in a construction site in the West bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. The municipality of Jerusalem has granted final approval for the construction of hundreds of new homes in east Jerusalem, while a hard-line Cabinet minister pushed the government to annex Maaleh Adumim, a major West Bank settlement as emboldened Israeli nationalists welcomed the presidency of Donald Trump. The building plans were put on hold in the final months of President Barack Obama's administration. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) (The Associated Press)

JERUSALEM – The Latest on Israeli plans in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the Trump era (all times local):

6:15 p.m.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says his Security Cabinet has unanimously agreed to postpone a vote on a proposal to annex a major West Bank settlement.

The pro-settler Jewish Home Party has been pushing the government to annex the Maaleh Adumim settlement, near Jerusalem. The party's leader, Naftali Bennett, believes the Trump administration will be friendly to the settlement movement, and that Israel should therefore drop the idea of creating a Palestinian state and instead annex West Bank settlements.

Netanyahu's office said his Security Cabinet, which includes Bennett, had agreed to postpone a vote on the annexation proposal until after an expected meeting between Netanyahu and Trump next month. Bennett's party had claimed that Netanyahu sought the delay, citing pressure from Trump.

Netanyahu and Trump were expected to speak on the phone later Sunday.

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12:30 p.m.

The Jerusalem municipality is pushing forward with 566 new housing units for Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem.

The building plans were put on hold in the final months of President Barack Obama's administration and were announced Sunday following the inauguration of Donald Trump. It wasn't immediately clear whether the project needs further approvals or when construction would begin.

Israel clashed frequently with Obama over construction in areas it conquered in the 1967 Mideast war. Most of the world considers settlements illegal or illegitimate.

But Israel's hard-line government has high expectations for Trump, who has signaled he will take a far kinder approach to them.

Trump's appointed ambassador to Israel has close ties to Jewish West Bank settlements as does the foundation run by the family of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.