ISOLATED U.S. VETOES JERUSALEM MOTION
new york — The United States was further isolated on Monday over US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital when it blocked a United Nations Security Council call for the declaration to be withdrawn.
The remaining 14 council members voted in favour of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the United States or Trump but which expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem”.
“What we witnessed here in the Security Council is an insult. It won’t be forgotten,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said after the vote.
It was the first veto cast by the United States in the Security Council in more than six years, Haley said. “We do it with no joy, but we do it with no reluctance,” she said. “The fact that this veto is being done in defense 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.”
The UN draft resolution affirmed “that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council”.
Trump abruptly reversed decades of US policy this month when he recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, generating outrage from Palestinians and the Arab world and concern among Washington’s western allies.
“In the wake of the decision of the United States ... the situation has become more tense with an increase in incidents, notably rockets fired from Gaza and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces,” UN Middle East peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council ahead of the vote.
Trump also plans to move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. —
ramallah (palestinian territories) — The Palestinians will seek United Nations General Assembly support if the US vetoes a Security Council resolution against its decision to recognise occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a minister said on Monday.
The Security Council was expected to vote later on Monday on a draft resolution rejecting US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The vote, called by Egypt, is likely to see the United States use its veto power.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Malki said they would seek support at the General Assembly if US ambassador Nikki Haley exercises Washington’s veto.
While Haley considers “the veto a source of pride and strength, we will show her their position is isolated and rejected internationally”, Al Malki said in a statement.
The UN General Assembly is expected to hold a plenary session on Tuesday, including a discussion on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
The five permanent members of the Security Council have veto power, but there are no vetoes at the General Assembly.
Breaking with international consensus, US President Donald Trump on December 6 recognised occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and said he would move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, sparking protests and strong condemnation.
US Vice-President Mike Pence will visit Jerusalem on Wednesday, wading into the crisis over one of the most controversial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has scrapped a meeting with Pence in protest at the Jerusalem announcement, and will instead head to Saudi Arabia to meet the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Abbas has sought to unify the Muslim world in opposition to Trump’s Jerusalem move.
On Monday night the Palestinian leadership will meet for the first time since Trump’s announcement.
Israel occupied the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and sees the whole of Jerusalem as its undivided capital. The Palestinians view the east as the capital of their future state. —