Jerusalem: UN resolution rejects Trump’s declaration

The UN General Assembly has decisively backed a resolution effectively calling on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The text says that any decisions regarding the status of the city are “null and void” and must be cancelled.

The non-binding resolution was approved by 128 states, with 35 abstaining and nine others voting against.

It came after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut financial aid to those who backed the resolution.

Before the vote, the Palestinian foreign minister urged member states to reject “blackmail and intimidation”.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said it would reject the anticipated result “outright” and dismissed the UN as a “house of lies”.

The 193-member UN General Assembly held a rare emergency special session at the request of Arab and Muslim states, who condemned Mr Trump’s decision to reverse decades of US policy earlier this month.

The Palestinians called for the meeting after the US vetoed a Security Council resolution that was similar to the text approved on Thursday.

In a speech before the vote, US permanent representative Nikki Haley stressed that the US decision did not prejudge any final status issues, and did not preclude a two-state solution if the parties agreed to that.

“The United States will remember this day, on which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” she said.