US ‘taking names’ on who votes against it
UNITED NATIONS — U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley threatened U.N. member states with possible retaliation if they support a resolution criticizing Washington’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying President Donald Trump takes Thursday’s vote “personally” — and the U.S. “will be taking names.”
Haley’s warning letter to most of the 193 U.N. member states and a threatening tweet on Wednesday drew sharp criticism from the Palestinian and Turkish foreign ministers, who are flying to New York for the General Assembly vote. They accused the U.S. of intimidation.
Trump strongly supported Haley’s message, telling reporters at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday that opponents are likely to face a cutoff in U.S. funding.
“For all these nations, they take our money and then vote against us. They take hundreds of millions of dollars, even billions of dollars and then they vote against us,” Trump said. “We’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”
The Palestinians sought the General Assembly vote after the United States on Monday vetoed a resolution supported by the 14 other U.N. Security Council members that would have required Trump to rescind his declaration on Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and not move the U.S. Embassy there.
Unlike the Security Council, assembly resolutions are not legally binding but do reflect world opinion.
In Wednesday’s letter,Haley said the Trump administration is “simply asking that you acknowledge the historical friendship, partnership, and support we have extended and respect our decision about our own embassy.”
“The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us,” she wrote in the letter. “We will take note of each and every vote on this issue.”
Her tweet was sharper: “At the UN we’re always asked to do more & give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt 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.”
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour said he expected “massive support” for the resolution, and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Istanbul that they believe countries will ignore “pressure” from Haley.
“They will vote for justice, and they will vote in favor of that resolution,” Al-Maliki said.
“No honorable state would bow to such pressure,” Cavusoglu said. “The world has changed. The belief that ‘I am strong therefore I am right’ has changed. The world today is revolting against injustices.”
Israel also is intensively lobbying countries to oppose the resolution.