U.S. vetoes U.N. resolution condemning Trump’s Jerusalem decision

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said a U.N. resolution to condemn the United States' recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel was "an insult." File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI

Dec. 19 (UPI) — The United States blocked a U.N. resolution condemning President Donald Trump‘s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The 15-member U.N. Security Council voted in favor of the resolution by a vote of 14-1, but the United States exercised its veto power. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley described Trump’s decision as a “U.S. recognition of the obvious.”

On Dec. 6, Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced the United States would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The one-page resolution drafted by Egypt demanded “all States comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem, and not to recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions.”

It also reiterated the council’s view that no country should establish an embassy in Jerusalem and that Jerusalem’s status is an issue to be resolved by Israel and the Palestinians, adding Jerusalem “is a final-status issue to be resolved through negotiations.”

Haley criticized the resolution as “an insult,” adding a sovereign nation has “every right” to decide where to put its embassy.

“Buried in diplomatic jargon, some presume to tell America where to put its embassy,” she said.

French Ambassador to the United Nations Francois Delattre joined the other non-U.S. members in voting in favor of the resolution.

“Israel is the key to peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” Delattre said. “This Egyptian draft only reaffirms clearly the basis of international consensus, international law.”

British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft agreed with the language of the resolution and added that Britain has no plans to change the location of its embassy.

“Our view is that the issue of Jerusalem is a final status issue, that Jerusalem should be a shared capital for Israelis and for Palestinians, and the U.K. Embassy, for now, will remain in Tel Aviv,” Rycroft said.

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