Muted disappointment
Canada walks political minefield with UN abstention on Trump embassy plan
Canada tiptoed through one of the world’s most dangerous political minefields on Thursday when it abstained from a United Nations vote that rebuked Donald Trump’s Middle East policy.
The government walked away from the potentially explosive debate over Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, sustaining only limited damage: the United States said it was pleased, the Palestinians said they were fine, too, and Canada’s leading Jewish affairs organization expressed muted disappointment.
Well-placed sources told The Canadian Press that the government’s decision to abstain was the result of a painstaking twoweek analysis that tried to balance two competing interests — Canada’s support of the U.S.’s sovereign right to decide on the location of its embassy versus Ottawa’s view that the status of Jerusalem has to be decided as part of a broader peace agreement.
Canada was one of 35 countries that abstained from voting on a contentious UN resolution denouncing Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The General Assembly voted 128-9 in favour of the resolution.
The vote placed Canada in a difficult situation because Trump had threatened to retaliate against countries that supported the resolution. And it came as Canada is in the midst of a tough renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with a protectionist Trump administration that has threatened to tear up the deal. Sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said Canadian diplomats saw the political storm taking shape 10 days ago and started working on a plan. They analyzed several factors — Middle East policy, international politics and considerations closer to home: Canada-U.S. relations, and Canada’s bid for a temporary seat on the UN’s Security Council. Abstention was seen as the best option.
On Wednesday, Canada gave the U.S. a heads-up of its intention. On Thursday morning, the U.S. was informed of the final decision, a few hours before Marc-Andre Blanchard, Canada’s UN ambassador, explained that decision to the General Assembly. Canada didn’t receive any assurances from the U.S., and American officials at the UN never promised that an abstention would be well-viewed, sources said.
But in the end, it appeared to assuage the Americans. Nikki Haley, the American ambassador to the UN, thanked the countries that supported the U.S., including abstainers, Canada and Mexico among them. “We appreciate these countries
for not falling to the irresponsible ways of the á+ UN,” Haley tweeted. Blanchard made it clear the resolution never should have landed on the floor of the General Assembly.
“We are disappointed that this resolution is one sided and does not advance prospects for peace to which we aspire, which is why we have abstained on today’s vote,” Blanchard told the General Assembly. Blanchard said Canada wants to emphasize that Jerusalem has special significance to Jews, Muslims and Christians. “Denying the connection between Jerusalem and the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths undermines the integrity of the site for all. We also reiterate the need to maintain the status quo at Jerusalem’s Holy sites.” Blanchard also affirmed Canada’s “long-standing position” that the status of Jerusalem should be left for a broader settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.