By a large majority, the UN on Thursday condemned the US president's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The last-minute diplomatic pressure from Donald Trump and his UN representative, Nikki Haley, will not have been enough. The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted, on Thursday, December 21, by a large majority (128 votes in favor, 35 abstentions and 9 votes against), a resolution on the status of Jerusalem, sponsored by Turkey and Yemen.
The text is broadly based on a draft presented on Monday to the Security Council, which implicitly condemned the recent recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the US president. The United States, a permanent member of the Council, then used its veto to prevent the adoption of this resolution, supported by the fourteen other members. This blockage had led Palestinians, who wanted East Jerusalem, which Israel seized in 1967, to become the capital of their future state, to call for an emergency special session of the General Assembly.
Upstream from this meeting, Trump sought to intimidate, threatening to cut supplies to recipient countries of US financial aid in case of support for the new resolution. The White House has also hinted that an adoption of the text could downward US participation in the UN budget, which must already be reduced in the next fiscal year.
Blackmail to the wallet
This message was hammered by Nikki Haley in a muscled speech at the grandstand of the General Assembly, where she defended Washington's choice to move her Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "The United States will remember that day when it was targeted at the General Assembly simply for exercising its sovereign right," the US ambassador said. "We will remember when we are asked again to be the main contributors to the United Nations," she continued unabashedly.
The vehemence of Ms. Haley's intervention has sparked the skepticism and disbelief of many diplomats, who are not very keen on portfolio blackmail from the world's leading power. "You never hear that in the gallery of the General Assembly, it's amazing! Exclaims one of them.
The text, which recalls a series of Security Council resolutions on Jerusalem and underlines the illegal nature of Israel's occupation of the eastern part of the Holy City, was supported by almost two-thirds of the member states. France and the United Kingdom, the United States' traditional partners in the United Nations, voted for China, as well as Russia and all the countries of the Arab world.
"Despite their threats and aggression, the United States has failed to persuade most states, which have made a free and sovereign choice," said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki. the outcome of the vote. We are here to write a new chapter with the countries that want Jerusalem to be the capital of Palestine and reject the decision of President Trump, contrary to international law. "
Reverse for Trump
Several ambassadors and diplomats had anticipated more massive support for an issue that was the subject of a broad international consensus. But US maneuvers have deterred some countries from alienating the powerful American ally. A total of 65 UN members voted against the text, abstained or, like Ukraine, did not participate in the ballot. The American mission took the opportunity to send a formal invitation to the representatives of these states to "thank them for [their] friendship".
The chasm separating Washington from other permanent members of the Security Council today over Jerusalem could, in the near future, freeze any initiative to revive negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. "The real loser is the peace process," regrets a cadre of a UN mission.