On Friday, the US chose not to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to settlement construction.

The decision to abstain infuriated Mr Netanyahu, whose spokesman said on Tuesday he had "ironclad information" from Arab sources that the White House had helped draft the language of the resolution and "pushed hard" for its passage.

A US state department spokesman said the accusation was "just not true", but he hoped the resolution would "serve as a wake-up call" for Israel.

Image copyright AP Image caption Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would "not turn the other cheek" to the UN vote

More than 500,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

The Security Council resolution passed on Friday stated that the establishment of settlements "has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace".

Israel rejected the resolution, and the BBC's Yolande Knell said it was particularly angry about the condemnation of building in East Jerusalem - which it sees as part of its capital, but which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Mr Netanyahu responded over the weekend by summoning the ambassadors of the US and the 14 countries on the Security Council who voted in favour of the resolution, recalling Israel's ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal, cutting aid to Senegal, and cancelling a visit by Ukraine's prime minister.

Media captionBarbara Plett-Usher explains what the UN Security Council's vote means

The Jerusalem Planning and Housing Committee had indicated it would press ahead with a planned vote on authorising 492 new homes in the settlements of Ramat Shlomo and Ramot.

But on Wednesday, planning committee member Hanan Rubin said the vote had been postponed.

Mr Rubin told the BBC this was at the request of the prime minister's office, to avoid further straining relations with Washington hours before Mr Kerry's speech.

"It's in our interest to avoid political voting in Jerusalem because Jerusalem is not the same as settlements around Israel," he said.