US-Israel Isolated at UN General Assembly
The majority of the world’s nations have condemned the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.
NEW YORK, THURSDAY — The majority of the world’s nations have condemned the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel. The rejection was seen in the United Nations General Assembly vote on Thursday (21/12) in New York, which has isolated US and Israel.
The General Assembly vote showed that 128 countries backed the draft UN resolution on Jerusalem, with 9 voting against and 35 abstaining.
Several delegations of UN states had voiced their condemnation before voting on Jerusalem began. Indonesia, represented by Indonesian Permanent Representative to the UN Dian Triansyah Djani, said US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was unacceptable. The decision was harmful to humanity and justice.
“The declaration dissociated the two-state solution and made it harder to achieve Palestine’s independence. It must be rejected,” he said at the UN General Assembly.
The General Assembly voted on the draft UN resolution on Jerusalem, which counters the US decision.
Indonesia pointed out that the decision violated many UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions.
Dian stated that Indonesia supported Palestinian’s people right to freedom and dignity to have their own country. “Indonesia will never step back from the struggle for Palestine’s independence,” he said.
Aside from Indonesia, Yemen, Turkey, Iraq, Venezuela and Bangladesh also condemned the US decision. Venezuela said its stance represented all states of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Until this news was reported, only the US and Israel stood against the draft resolution on Jerusalem. US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said the US would never change its decision.
US threat
Haley also repeated the US threat. Before the session, the US had threatened to cut financial aid to those countries that voted against the US in the UN General Assembly.
“They take hundreds of millions of US dollars and even billions of US dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we\'re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We\'ll save a lot. We don\'t care,” US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.
The US government has channeled US$13 billion in economic and military aid to sub-Saharan countries. Another $1.6 billion was channeled to East Asia and Oceania.
The US also allocated $13 billion to the Middle East and North Africa; South Asia and Central Asia received a total of $6.7 billion. About $1.5 billion was channeled to Europe and Eurasian countries. Meanwhile, $2.2 billion was channeled to countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Trump expressed excitement over the message Haley sent to US partners: “I like the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations, for all of these nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council, or they vote against us potentially at the assembly.”
Haley messaged her partners at the UN, warning them that Trump had told her to report countries that were against the US. She said she would be “taking names”.
Several envoys that wanted to remain anonymous said Haley’s move could only be done by a country that had no moral or legal reasons for convincing other nations. Such a move was substandard, and would not help the US curb the condemnation of other countries against the US’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The message would also reduce the US’s opportunity to be involved in establishing peace in the Middle East.
Bolivian Permanent Representative to the UN Sacha Sergio Llorenty Solíz challenged Haley. “She must write down Bolivia first. We regret the arrogance and the disrespect to the sovereignty of member states and to multilateralism,” he said.
Saint Vincent-Grenadines Ambassador to UN Rhonda King said the country and the US would remain ally. Yet, the country is against the US over Jerusalem. “Sometimes, friends differ; on Jerusalem, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines respectfully differs from the USA; and so, too, do many of the staunchest friends and allies of the USA. We gently urge yet again that the government of the USA rethink its position and approach on this entire matter,” she said.
At the UN Security Council session, Britain and France, two US allies, were against the US. So were 12 other permanent members of the UN Security Council. They agreed to issue a resolution that condemned the US recognition of Jerusalem. However, the resolution was vetoed by the US.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Casuvoglu accused the US of threatening UN states. Maliki believed that UN states would make their decisions based on conscience.
“No dignified countries will surrender to such pressure. The world has changed,” said Casuvoglu, who flew to New York with Maliki.
Meanwhile, the ANC, South Africa’s ruling party, considered downgrading the status of its embassy in Israel to a consulate. The status downgrade was a show of South African support for Palestine.
From Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, King Salman reiterated the kingdom’s support for Palestine during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was visiting Riyadh on Wednesday (20/12).
(AFP/AP/REUTERS/RAZ)