US vetoes UN council resolution on Jerusalem

The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called on President Donald Trump to withdraw recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, exercising its veto power for the first time in six years, reports PTI.

Trump on December 6 announced that he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, triggering protests and strong condemnation from across the world.

Even America’s closest allies on the 15-member Council, the most powerful body in the UN system, voted for the resolution.

The one-page resolution, drafted by Egypt, reiterated the longstanding position of the Security Council, in several resolutions dating back 50 years, rejecting Israel’s sovereignty claim over Jerusalem.

They warned that Trump’s announcement about Jerusalem, which upended decades of American policy, threatened to subvert the effort to solve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

This was the first veto exercised by the Trump administration and the first one by the United States in six years.

“The fact that this veto is being done in defence of American sovereignty and in defence of America’s role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us; it should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the Security Council,” US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has said in defence of exercising veto.