‘STOP!’ GO THE WEASELS

UN’s shameful Jerusalem vote

In Nikki Haley an “move, the UN voted 9 to the US of as of el.

THE nations that supported the nonbinding resolution to “null and void” President Trump’s recognition of Israel’s capital Thursday — 128 countries, to be exact — believe they are shaming the United States. But come on. This is the same UN General Assembly that passes 20 anti-Israel resolutions each year, and only seven about the rest of the world (including one hardy perennial condemning America’s Cuba policy). They’re the ones that should be embarrassed.

Still, this was less than a complete victory for the UN jackals. Before the vote, America-bashers predicted they’d have up to 160 supporters.

Some leaning toward voting against the US lost their nerve, abstaining or not showing up at all. “The vote is in,” Ambassador Nikki Haley tweeted afterward. “65 Countries refused to condemn the United States, and 128 voted against us.”

Even more interesting: None of the Europeans who voted for the anti-US resolution signed up to speak during the ritual prevote festival of fiery anti-Israel and antiAmerica speeches.

Instead, nearly all the ones “isolating” America and pontificating hotly about violations of international law, the concept of peace and all that jazz were an impressive array of rogues: Venezuela, Iran, Syria, North Korea and a host of other dictatorships and failed states. (South Africa, in fact, was the only democracy taking part in that farcical segment of the proceedings.)

Oh, and the countries leading the proceedings were Turkey — which just issued an arrest warrant against Knick star Enes Kanter for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and war-torn, impoverished Yemen.

Haley and Trump had warned US aid recipients that dissing America at Turtle Bay could cost them. “Let them vote against us,” Trump said Wednesday. “We’ll save a lot, we don’t care.” And Haley tweeted: “We’re taking names.”

Of the countries that voted against America Thursday, 121 received US foreign aid last year, for a combined total of $21.8 billion. It’s doubtful all of them will suffer, but look for UN budgets, like those of Palestinian-supporting programs, to be slashed.

Nevertheless, Palestinian UN ob- server Riad Mansour was gleeful. Haley “failed in trying to convince a significant number of countries,” he told me. Yet Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu complained that UN members were “threatened and bullied” and ended up refraining from supporting the resolution.

So Haley’s tactic worked some and failed some.

UN denizens fretted that diplomats shouldn’t make threats. But US diplomats have always acted this way. A widely admired Democrat, the late Richard Holbrooke, was notorious in bullying UN colleagues behind the scenes to secure US interests at the world body.

Haley took it all public. “The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack,” she told the assembly. “We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations. And we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”

Aides tell me that Haley sent notes to the 65 countries that didn’t vote for the resolution to thank them “for your friendship,” and that this is just the beginning

Haley said the US government, and no one else, will decide where to put our embassy, and no UN vote would change that. But “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.”

It will. As it should.