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UN votes on Jerusalem after Trump warns 'we're watching'
UN member-states will soon vote on a motion rejecting US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with President Donald Trump threatening to cut funding to countries that back the measure.
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The U.N. Security Council meets concerning the situation in the Middle East involving Israel and Palestine, at United Nations headquarters, December 18, 2017 in New York City. The United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution seeking to reaffirm Jerusalem's status as unresolved. (Agence France -Presse/Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
U
N member-states will soon vote on a motion rejecting US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with President Donald Trump threatening to cut funding to countries that back the measure.
At an emergency session, the UN General Assembly will decide on a draft resolution reaffirming that Jerusalem is an issue that must be resolved through negotiations and that any decision on its status has no legal effect and must be rescinded.
The measure was sent to the General Assembly after it was vetoed by the United States at the Security Council on Monday, although all other 14 council members voted in favor.
The status of the Holy City is one of the most thorny issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides claiming it as their capital.
Trump's decision on December 6 to recognize the city as Israel's capital broke with international consensus and unleashed protests across the Muslim world, prompting a flurry of appeals to the United Nations.
But Trump warned that Washington would closely watch how nations voted, suggesting there could even be reprisals for countries that back the motion which was 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 at the White House.
"Well, we're watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care."
The draft resolution mirrors the text that was vetoed on Monday, and although it does not mention Trump's decision, it expresses "deep regret at recent decisions" concerning the city's status.
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."
"The attitude to Israel of many nations in the world, in all the continents, is changing outside of the UN walls, and will eventually filter into the UN as well -- the house of lies," he said.
Diplomats expect strong support for the resolution, which is non-binding, despite the US pressure to either abstain, vote against it or simply not turn up for the vote.
On Tuesday, US Ambassador Nikki Haley sent an email to fellow UN envoys to put them on notice that "the president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us."
"We will take note of each and every vote on this issue," she wrote in the message seen by AFP.
