UN Rejects Trump’s Recognition Of Jerusalem As Israel’s Capital, Urges US To Withdraw Decision

December 21, 2017 – UN Rejects Trump’s Recognition Of Jerusalem As Israel’s Capital, Urges US To Withdraw Decision

The United Nation has backed a resolution effectively calling on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The non-binding measure passed at a UN General Assembly emergency meeting on Thursday with 128 votes in favour and nine against, while 35 countries abstained.

President Donald Trump had warned ahead of the vote in the 193-nation assembly that we’re watching and threatened to cut financial aid against countries backing the measure, which reaffirms that the status of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.

Before the vote, the Palestinian foreign minister urged member states to reject blackmail and intimidation.

35 countries that abstained were Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania and Rwanda.

Ukraine, which supported the draft resolution at the Security Council, was among 21 countries that did not turn up for the vote.

The session on Thursday at the 193-member body was held at the request of Arab and Muslim countries after the US vetoed the same measure in the Security Council on Monday.

The status of Jerusalem has long remained a sensitive topic and one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

After occupying the city’s eastern part in the 1967 War, Israel annexed the territory. In 1980, it proclaimed it as its “eternal, undivided capital.”

The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, however, see East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

[Reuter]