UNITED NATIONS
The United States on Monday vetoed a draft UN resolution rejecting President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, after all 14 other Security Council members backed the measure.
The lone veto cast by US Ambassador Nikki Haley highlighted Washington’s isolation over Trump’s announcement that the US embassy will be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, effectively ignoring Palestinian claims on the city.
The drafted resolution, put forward by Egypt, said 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status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded.”
It had been expected that the United States would veto the vote. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said Palestine would seek support for the measure at the General Assembly if the Haley exercised Washington’s veto.
Malki said in a statement that while Haley considered “the veto a source of pride and strength, we will show her their position is isolated and rejected internationally.”
The five permanent members of the Security Council have veto power, but there are no vetoes at the General Assembly.
Arab News quoted Ambassador Riyad Mansour as saying that the Palestinians and Egyptians had worked closely with Security Council members while drafting the resolution to ensure that it would get overwhelming support.
The Palestinians had the option of invoking a rarely used article of the UN Charter that calls for parties to a dispute not to cast a veto, Arab News reported. But, it said, they were more likely to take the issue to the General Assembly under Resolution 377A, known as the “Uniting for Peace” resolution.
Resolution 377A was passed in 1950 and used to authorize the deployment of US troops to fight in the Korean War.
Mansour said Palestinians resorted to the “Uniting for Peace” resolution in the 1990s after Israel began building a settlement on Jabal Abut Ghnaim, a hilltop on occupied West Bank land south of Jerusalem, but left that session in suspension. However, they could seek a resumption of the session, he said.
“If the resolution is vetoed, the Palestinian delegation can send a letter to the UN Secretary-General and ask him to resume the emergency session,” he said, according to Arab News.
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