UN denounces Jerusalem decision
UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly yesterday to denounce United States President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, largely ignoring Trump’s threats to cut off aid to any country that went against him.
The non-binding resolution declaring the US action on Jerusalem ‘‘null and void’' was approved 128-9 - a victory for the Palestinians, but not as big as they had predicted. Amid Washington’s threats, 35 of the 193 UN member nations abstained and 21 were absent.
The resolution reaffirmed what has been the UN’s stand on the divided holy city since 1967: that Jerusalem’s final status must be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Trump administration made it clear that the vote would have no effect on its plan to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he rejected the ‘‘preposterous’' resolution.
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour called the vote a victory not only for the Palestinians but for the UN and international law, saying US Ambassador Nikki Haley ‘‘failed miserably’' in persuading only seven countries other than the US and Israel to vote against the resolution.
The US and Israel had waged an intensive lobbying campaign against the measure, with Haley sending letters to over 180 countries warning that Washington would be taking the names of those that voted against the US. Trump went further, threatening a funding cutoff.
But in the end, major US aid recipients including Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania and South Africa, supported the resolution.
The nine countries voting ‘‘no’' were the US, Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, the Marshall Islands and Togo. Among the abstentions were Australia, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Mexico. The absent countries included Kenya, the fifth-largest recipient of US aid last year, Georgia and Ukraine, all of which have close US ties.
The US is scheduled to dispense US$25.8 billion in foreign aid for 2018. Whether Trump follows through with his threat against those countries that voted ‘‘yes’' remains to be seen.
After the vote, Haley tweeted a photo naming the 65 nations that voted no, abstained or were absent, and said: ‘‘We appreciate these countries for not falling to the irresponsible ways of the UN.’'
But within hours, the Trump administration appeared to be backing away from its funding threats. In Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said cuts to countries that opposed the US were not a foregone conclusion.
During the debate, Arab, Muslim and non-aligned nations urged a ‘‘yes’' vote on the resol- ution, which was sponsored by Yemen and Turkey.
Trump’s pressure tactics had raised the stakes, and triggered accusations from the Muslim world of US bullying and blackmail.
‘‘It is unethical to think that the votes and dignity of member states are for sale,’' said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The Palestinians and their supporters sought the general assembly vote after the US on Tuesday vetoed a resolution supported by the 14 other UN Security Council members that would have required Trump to rescind his declaration on Jerusalem. The resolution adopted by the assembly has language similar to the defeated measure.
– AP