DEFYING President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off funding, the United Nations approved by a resounding vote yesterday a motion rejecting the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution by 128 to nine with 35 abstentions, in what Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour called a “massive setback” for the US.

An additional 21 countries did not turn up for the vote, including Ukraine, which had supported the same resolution in the Security Council, indicating that the US threats did have a chilling effect on some governments.

Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo joined the US in opposing the measure.

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

Speaking at the emergency session, US Ambassador Nikki Haley warned that the US “will remember this day”.

“America will put our embassy in Jerusalem,” Haley said in defence of the US move, which broke with international consensus and unleashed protests across the Muslim world.

“No vote in the UN will make any difference on that,” Haley said.

“But, this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN.

“When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate expectation that our goodwill is recognised and respected.”

The resolution reaffirms that the status of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations, and that any decision reached outside of that framework must be rescinded.

Without explicitly referencing the US move, it “affirms 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status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void, and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the vote showed the “illegality” of Trump’s decision, urging the US to withdraw it.

‘Unprecedented test’

The motion was sent to the General Assembly after it was vetoed by the US at the Security Council on Monday, although all other 14 council members voted in favour.

While resolutions by the General Assembly are non-binding, a strong vote in support carries political weight.

Ahead of the vote, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the UN as a “house of lies”, saying Israel “rejects outright this vote, even before it passes”.

“No General Assembly resolution will ever drive us from Jerusalem,” vowed Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki called the vote an “unprecedented test” for the UN, and referenced the US warning that it was “taking names”.

“History records names, it remembers names – the names of those who stand by what is right and the names of those who speak falsehood,” al-Malki said.

Trump’s decision on December 6 to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital prompted a flurry of appeals to the UN.

The status of the Holy City is one of the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Trump warned that Washington would closely watch how nations voted, suggesting there could be reprisals for those that backed the motion put forward by Yemen and Turkey on behalf of Arab and Muslim countries.

“They take hundreds of millions of dollars, and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us,” Trump said.

“Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.” – AFP, December 22, 2017.