The Israeli government announced Monday that it would scrap controversial plans to deport African asylum seekers, saying it had reached an “unprecedented understanding” with the United Nations to resettle many of these migrants in Western countries.

In a statement released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, Israel said it was working with the United Nations to resettle at least 16,250 migrants in Western nations under the scheme, which would be implemented in stages over five years. Netanyahu later said at a news conference that Canada, Italy and Germany would be among the countries where migrants would be resettled.

Under the plan, Netanyahu said, Israel would offer temporary residency status to the same number of asylum seekers as were resettled in Western nations. The UN …