Issuing a clarification, the prime minister’s office stepped back from any suggestion of a dialogue with Washington on any government annexation plan.
The majority of the companies, or 143, are domiciled in Israel or the settlements, followed by 22 in the United States, it said.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians.
It said it would also ease restrictions on Palestinian construction in areas where it retains overall control at places that abut Palestinian urban areas.
Such settlements, in territory that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, are deemed illegal by most of the world.
The EU’s Federica Mogherini said that the law, if it was implemented, crossed a new and dangerous threshold.
The legislation has been condemned by Palestinians as a blow to their hopes of statehood.
The White House said the administration “has not taken an official position on settlement activity.
A statement from the Israeli Defence Ministry said the decision was meant to fulfil demand for housing and "return to life as usual".
This is the second such declaration since President Trump took office signalling he would be less critical of such projects.
The US abstained from the 23 December vote, allowing the Security Council to adopt the resolution with 14 votes in favour.
Egypt circulated the draft on Wednesday evening and the 15-member council is due to vote at 3 pm on Thursday.
Israeli officials are concerned the bill could provide grounds for prosecution by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
According to the reports, 560 homes will be built in Maale Adumim, a large settlement in the West Bank.
Diplomats are increasingly concerned that the drive may be reaching the point of irreversibility.
Washington said it was not a vote against peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Palestinian officials have voiced alarm over settlement building.
Jacob Zuma says Israel and Hamas should negotiate towards a ceasefire agreement.
