UN defies threats to scold Trump over Jerusalem
THE United Nations general assembly yesterday voted overwhelmingly to condemn Donald Trump recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In a rare emergency session of the global body, 128 nations voted in favour of the text condemning the US, with nine against and 35 abstentions.
Mr Trump vowed on the eve of the vote to withhold aid money from countries that voted against him. However yesterday the threats seemed to have had little effect, with major aid recipients such as Afghanistan, Jordan and Egypt joining Britain and the rest of the Security Council in the condemnation.
Other key allies including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and South Africa, went even further, adding their names to the list of sponsors of the resolution.
Only Mali, which received $257million (£192million) in aid last year from the US, withdrew its sponsorship of the resolution. But the majority of countries shrugged off America’s bullying tactics. The resolution had been vetoed by the US in the 15-member UN security council on Monday, but the country cannot veto a general assembly resolution. Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, used her speech ahead of the vote to emphasise that America was the single largest contributor to the UN and its agencies, and said that in return it expected support for its decision.
“The US will remember this day when it was singled out by the United Nations for the act of exercising our sovereignty,” she said. “This vote will make a difference to how America looks at the UN, and how we look at countries who disrespect us at the UN.”
But Riyad al-maliki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority, told the assembly: “We meet today not due to any animosity towards the US, but because of a decision that counts as an aggression. The decision ... affects the status of the US as a mediator of peace.”
Mr Trump said on Wednesday that Americans were tired of being taken advantage of by countries that took US aid money. “Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” he said.