Senator Chuck Schumer
Senator Chuck SchumerYoni Kempinski

Incoming Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer on Friday urged the Obama administration to veto the UN Security Council resolution that calls for an end to Israeli “settlements”.

A vote on the resolution is expected on Friday at around 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

"I am strongly opposed to the UN putting pressure on Israel through one-sided resolutions. An abstention is not good enough. The Administration must veto this resolution," Schumer said in a statement quoted by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Republican senator Lindsey Graham said he would work to suspend American assistance to the UN should the resolution pass.

“If UN moves forward with ill-conceived #Israel resolution, I'll work to form a bipartisan coalition to suspend/reduce US assistance to UN,” Graham tweeted.

“Any nation which backs this ill-conceived #Israel resolution and receives assistance from the US -- will put that assistance in jeopardy,” he added.

It is not yet clear how the Obama administration plans to vote, but diplomatic sources said on Thursday night, after the original vote was postponed, that the United States was considering abstaining or voting in favor and was not planning a veto.

The vote on the resolution, which was submitted by Egypt, was postponed indefinitely after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi instructed his nation’s delegation to push for a delay in the vote.

On Friday, however, four member states of the Security Council resubmitted the resolution.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)