UN Defies US, Passes Jerusalem Resolution

The Fellowship  |  December 21, 2017

UN General Assembly Votes On Resolution Condemning US On Jerusalem Decision
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: The voting results are displayed on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly in which the United States declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was declared "null and void" on December 21, 2017 in New York City. The vote, 128-9, at the United Nations concerned Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate its embassy there. The Trump administration has threatened to take action against any country that votes against the United States decision to move its embassy. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The United Nations General Assembly continued its long-standing bias against Israel today, voting to condemn the recent American recognition of Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital. The Times of Israel’s Raphael Ahren reports that 128 nations voted for the motion, 35 abstained, and only 9 – including the U.S. and Israel – opposed it:

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday defied warnings from the United States and overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and calling on countries not to move their diplomatic missions to the city.

A total of 128 countries voted in favor of the text, defying the threats — that were forcefully reiterated by US envoy Nikki Haley —  to cut aid to countries who oppose the motion.

Nine countries — the US,  Israel, Togo, Micronesia, Guatemala, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Honduras — voted against the resolution.

There were 35 abstentions, including a number of countries who had been widely expected to support the move, such as Colombia, Mexico, Malawi and Rwanda.

By abstaining, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Romania and the Czech Republic broke European Union consensus on the vote. The EU had previously vehemently rejected any attempt to change Jerusalem’s status in the absence of a final peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians…

Ahren also reports that Nikki Haley, the American ambassador to the U.N., defended her nation’s stand for Israel, a stance being supported on social media by #takingnames:

“The decision does not prejudge any final status issues, including Jerusalem’s boundaries. The decision does not preclude a two-state solution, if the parties agree to that,” she said. “The decision does nothing to harm peace efforts. Rather, the president’s decision reflects the will of the American people and our right as a nation to choose the location of our embassy.”

The US will move its embassy to Jerusalem, Haley said. “That’s what the American people want us to do. And it’s the right thing to do.” No vote at the UN will make any difference on the American decision, she declared. But this vote will be remembered, she vowed, when America is being asked once again to make the single-largest contribution to the UN budget or 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.”

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