US warns nations vs Jerusalem vote
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Tuesday warned countries that she will report back to US President Donald Trump the names of those who support a draft resolution rejecting the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The UN General Assembly will hold an emergency session this week to vote on the proposed measure that the United States vetoed at the Security Council.
“The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us,” said the letter from Haley seen by AFP.
“We will take note of each and every vote on this issue,” she wrote to several UN ambassadors.
On Twitter, Haley posted that “the US will be taking names” during the vote on Friday at the 193-nation assembly.
Turkey and Yemen requested the urgent meeting on behalf of the Arab group of countries and the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The two countries circulated a draft resolution on Tuesday that mirrors the vetoed measure, reaffirming that any decision on the status of Jerusalem has no legal effect and must be rescinded.
Egypt had put forward the draft at the council which was backed by all 14 other Security Council members in the vote on Monday.
Like the Egyptian draft, the text before the assembly does not mention Trump’s decision, but expresses “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”
Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said he expected “overwhelming support” for the measure stating that Jerusalem is an issue “to be resolved through negotiations” between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The General Assembly will say, without the fear of the veto, that the international community is refusing to accept the unilateral position of the United States,” Mansour told reporters.
No country has veto powers in the General Assembly, contrary to the council where the United States, along with Britain, China, France and Russia, can block any resolution.
Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem broke with international consensus, triggering protests across the Muslim world and drawing strong condemnation.
Key US allies Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Ukraine were among the 14 countries in the 15-member council that voted in favor of the measure.
After that vote, Haley described the 14-1 vote “an insult” and warned “it won’t be forgotten.”
She went further on Tuesday, warning in her Twitter post: “At the UN we’re always asked to do more ans give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American people, about where to locate our embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us.”
“On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names,” Haley said.
After the clash at the top UN body, the White House announced that US Vice President Mike Pence was delaying a trip to the Middle East planned for this week.
Israel seized control of the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and sees all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital. The Palestinians view the east as the capital of their future state.