Majority states defies Trump warning, oppose US move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
WASHINGTON, (MILLAT ONLINE):Member states of the United Nations through a resolution on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a US move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, ignoring warnings from President Trump who had threatened to cut off financial aid for countries which voted in favour of the resolution co-sponsored and supported by Pakistan.
At a special session of the UN General Assembly, 128 countries voted in favour of a resolution with nine opposing it which demanded that all countries comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the status of Jerusalem.
As many as 35 countries abstained from taking part in the non-binding resolution by the 193-member assembly which expressed deep regret over recent decision by the United States concerning the status of the holy city and stressed that a final status issue to be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant UN resolutions.
The Special UN session followed a failed attempt by the Security Council on Monday to adopt a similar resolution after a veto from the United States, a permanent member of the Council.
Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process had told the Security Council ahead of the failed resolution that the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory had become more tense in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
President Trump, who had announced the decision on Dec. 6, along with his UN Representative Nikky Haley, had threatened to cut-off aid for the countries who would support the resolution against the United States.
“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” Haley said ahead of the vote, adding that her country would remember “when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations”.
Resolutions in the Assembly are non-binding and do not carry the force of international law as do measures agreed in the Security Council.
Thursday’s resolution demanded that “all states comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem, and not recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions.”
The General Assembly further 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,” the world body said in an article posted on its official website.
The Assembly also called upon all states to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem, pursuant to Security Council resolution 478 adopted in 1980.
Reiterating its call for the reversal of the negative trends that endanger the two-state solution, the Assembly urged greater international and regional efforts and support aimed at achieving, without delay, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.