Phl abstains on Jerusalem vote

WASHINGTON — The Philippines abstained from voting on a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly demanding Washington to rescind its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after US President Donald Trump threatened to withhold aid to any country that dared oppose the United States.

Defying Trump, ambassadors of the 193-member General Assembly on Thursday voted 128-9, with 35 abstentions, to approve a non-binding resolution demanding that the US reverse its decision on Jerusalem, including a plan to relocate the US embassy there.

Another 21 delegations were absent from the vote, suggesting that Trump’s warning over funding cuts may have had some effect, according to analysts.

The US is the single largest contributor to the UN and its agencies, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said, and it will remember the day it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly.

“We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the (UN) and we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us as they often do, to pay even more and use our influence for their benefit,” Haley said.

“This vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN,” she added.

Given President Duterte’s declared policy of charting a new foreign policy course not dependent on the US, the Philippine abstention came as no surprise.

Other countries that abstained from voting, apart from the Philippines, included Australia, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Hungary and Poland.

Guatemala, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Nauru and Togo joined the US and Israel in voting no.