United States President-elect Donald Trump is already pulling the ropes on regional politics, and he's not even in the Oval Office yet.
Trump personally called Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and convinced him to withdraw a United Nations resolution against illegal Israeli settlements.
According to two Western officials that spoke to Reuters, the current U.S. administration had actually been planning to allow the resolution to pass.
Israeli officials were aware of the Obama administration's stance on the resolution, prompting them to lobby Trump for his support.
Egypt had taken the lead on the resolution, which demanded that Israel halt settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. A draft circulated around the UN on Wednesday and a vote had been scheduled for Thursday.
But, then Trump called Sisi and Egypt changed its mind, the Egyptian president's office said.
A spokesman explained that Trump pushed Sisi to give his new administration "the full chance to deal with all dimensions of the Palestinian case," according to Al Jazeera.
When news of the UN resolution first circulated, Trump responded by saying that it put Israel in "a very poor negotiating position." He added that it was "extremely unfair to all Israelis."
Although the U.S. has always been a staunch supporter of Israel, official policy supports a two-state solution. Israeli settlements are widely seen as a major threat to the two-state solution becoming a reality.
But, Trump has shown little interest in maintaining current U.S. policy towards Palestine. He campaigned on the promise that he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a significant and controversial break with longstanding policy.
Palestine and Israel both see Jerusalem as their rightful capital. If the U.S. moves its Israeli embassy to the city, this will demonstrate a total disregard for Palestine's right to exist.