The United Nations body’s debate and vote highlighted for a second time in a week the international isolation of the United States over the Jerusalem issue
The United Nations general assembly has delivered a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump, voting by a huge majority to reject his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The vote came after a redoubling of threats by Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, who said that Washington would remember which countries “disrespected” America by voting against it.
Despite the warning, 128 members voted on Thursday in favour of the resolution supporting the longstanding international consensus that the status of Jerusalem – which is claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinians – can only be settled as an agreed final issue in a peace deal. Countries which voted for the resolution included major recipients of US aid such as Egypt, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Although largely symbolic, the vote in emergency session of the world body had been the focus of days of furious diplomacy by both the Trump administration and Israel, including Trump’s threat to cut US funding to countries that did not back the US recognition.
But only nine states – including the United States and Israel –voted against the resolution. The other countries which supported Washington were Togo, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands, Guatemala and Honduras.
Play Video 1:03 'We will remember this’: US slams UN Jerusalem vote – video
Twenty-two of the 28 EU countries voted for the resolution, including the UK and France. Germany – which in the past has abstained on measures relating to Israel – also voted in favour.
Thirty-five countries abstained, including five EU states, and other US allies including Australia, Canada, Colombia and Mexico. Ambassadors from several abstaining countries, including Mexico, used their time on the podium to criticise Trump’s unilateral move.
Another 21 delegations were absent from the vote, suggesting the Trump’s warning over funding cuts and Israel’s lobbying may have had some effect.
While support for the resolution was somewhat less than Palestinian officials had hoped, the meagre tally of just nine votes in support of the US and Israeli position was a serious diplomatic blow for Trump.
Immediately after the vote the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, described the result as a “victory for Palestine”. The Palestinians’ UN envoy, Riyad Mansour, described the result as a “massive setback” for the US.
“They made it about them,” Mansour told AFP. “They did not make it about Jerusalem, so when you make it about them and to only be able to get nine votes to say ‘no’ to it, I think it was a complete failure for their campaign.”
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected the UN vote out of hand.
“Israel thanks President Trump for his unequivocal position in favour of Jerusalem and thanks the countries that voted together with Israel, together with the truth,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
Trump threatens to cut aid to countries over UN Jerusalem vote Read more
Speaking to the assembly before the vote, Haley – who earlier in the week told members that the US “would be taking names” – returned to the offensive.
“I must also say today: when we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have expectation that we will be respected,” she said. “What’s more, we are being asked to pay for the dubious privileges of being disrespected.”
Haley added: “If our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our investment in other ways … The United States will remember this day.”
Q&A Why is recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital so contentious? Show Hide Of all the issues at the heart of the enduring conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, none is as sensitive as the status of Jerusalem. The holy city has been at the centre of peace-making efforts for decades. Seventy years ago, when the UN voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, Jerusalem was defined as a separate entity under international supervision. In the war of 1948 it was divided, like Berlin in the cold war, into western and eastern sectors under Israeli and Jordanian control respectively. Nineteen years later, in June 1967, Israel captured the eastern side, expanded the city’s boundaries and annexed it – an act that was never recognised internationally. Israel routinely describes the city, with its Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy places, as its “united and eternal” capital. For their part, the Palestinians say East Jerusalem must be the capital of a future independent Palestinian state. The unequivocal international view, accepted by all previous US administrations, is that the city’s status must be addressed in peace negotiations. Recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital puts the US out of step with the rest of the world, and legitimises Israeli settlement-building in the east – considered illegal under international law. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP
In his own speech Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said UN members who backed the resolution were being manipulated. “You are like puppets pulled by your Palestinian masters,” he told the session.
While Thursday’s resolution was in support of existing UN resolutions on Jerusalem and the peace process, the clumsy intervention by Trump and Haley also made the vote a referendum on Trump’s often unilateral and abrasive foreign policy.
The debate and vote highlighted for a second time in a week the international isolation of the United States over the Jerusalem issue, following a similar vote in the security council on Tuesday in which it was outnumbered 14-1.
Trump's bullying and bluster on Jerusalem is bad news for the UN | Patrick Wintour Read more
The threatening US posture, which had been denounced as both counter-productive and “bullying”, only seemed to have hardened the resolve of countries in opposing Trump’s 6 December move.
The resolution, co-sponsored by Turkey and Yemen, called Trump’s recognition “null and void” and reaffirmed 10 security council resolutions on Jerusalem, dating back to 1967, including requirements that the city’s final status must be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
It also “demands that all states comply with security council resolutions regarding the holy city of Jerusalem, and not to recognise any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions”.
Earlier on Thursday, as it had become clear that the US and Israel would be heavily defeated, Netanyahu preemptively denounced the vote calling the UN a “house of lies”.
“The state of Israel rejects this vote outright,” Netanyahu said. “Jerusalem is our capital, we will continue to build there and additional embassies will move to Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, whether or not the UN recognises this. It took 70 years for the United States to formally recognise this, and it will take years for the UN to do the same.”
Michael Oren, Israel’s deputy minister for diplomacy, called for Israel to cut its ties with the UN and expel the organisation from its Jerusalem offices.
“We must evict the UN from the scenic Governor’s House, where its bloated staff does nothing, and give this historic site to a school, a hospital or – best yet – a new US embassy.”
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Haley's warning: "The United States will remember this day"
The UN General Assembly has decisively backed a resolution effectively calling on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The text says that any decisions regarding the status of the city are "null and void" and must be cancelled.
The non-binding resolution was approved by 128 states, with 35 abstaining and nine others voting against.
It came after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut financial aid to those who backed the resolution.
Following the vote, state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the US was exploring "various options" and no decisions had yet been made.
How did UN members vote?
The nine who voted against the resolution were the US, Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo
Among the 35 abstaining were Canada and Mexico
Those voting in favour included the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia and the UK) as well as key US allies in the Muslim world
There were 21 countries who did not turn up for the vote.
Read more: How did your country vote?
What is so contentious about Jerusalem's status?
The status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
Israel occupied the east of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and regards the entire city as its indivisible capital.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Why the city of Jerusalem matters
The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state and its final status is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks.
Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognised internationally, and all countries currently maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. However, President Trump has told the US state department to start work on moving the US embassy.
What does the UN resolution say?
The 193-member UN General Assembly held the rare emergency special session at the request of Arab and Muslim states, who condemned Mr Trump's decision to reverse decades of US policy earlier this month.
The Palestinians called for the meeting after the US vetoed a Security Council resolution that was similar to the text approved on Thursday.
The text put forward by Turkey and Yemen does not mention the US, but expresses "deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem".
It also says "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".
What do Israel and the Palestinians say?
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to reject the results of the vote, calling the UN a "house of lies".
Afterwards he said in a statement: "Israel thanks President Trump for his unequivocal position in favour of Jerusalem and thanks those countries that voted alongside Israel, alongside the truth."
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the vote "a victory for Palestine".
How does the US see it?
In a speech before the vote, US permanent representative Nikki Haley stressed that the US decision did not prejudge any final status issues, and did not preclude a two-state solution if the parties agreed to that.
"The United States will remember this day, on which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation," she said.
"America will put our embassy in Jerusalem. That is what the American people want us to do. And it is the right thing to do. No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Trump: "We're watching those votes"
On Wednesday, Mr Trump warned he might cut financial aid to states who voted in favour of the resolution.
"They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us," he said. "Well, we're watching those votes," he added. "Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care."
Will Trump act in retaliation?
Analysis by Sebastian Usher, BBC Arab affairs analyst
The result of the UN General Assembly vote was inevitable: the US knew that the majority of states would vote for the resolution. But there may have been slightly more abstentions and votes against than had been expected - which will be some comfort to the Trump administration.
There's little surprise in the countries that voted against - the likes of Micronesia, Nauru and Togo had nothing to gain from voting against the interests of the US, which helps support them.
Canada, Mexico and Poland were amongst those that abstained, in a move that will do nothing to harm their relations with the US.
The votes for the resolution from powerful US allies, such as France, Germany and the UK, could be seen as a slap in the face for President Trump - but all would argue that they simply voted in line with the existing status quo at the UN. There was no pressing reason for them to switch from this stance.
But the real test of the vote will be whether the Trump administration acts on its threats to reconsider financial aid to some of those who backed the resolution. Key, too, will be whether the resolution will give fresh impetus to the protests against the US decision that have been going on ever since it was announced, but have yet to really catch fire.
(CNN) The US faces an embarrassing loss in the United Nations General Assembly Thursday despite comments by President Donald Trump suggesting countries that vote against the US could face repercussions.
Egypt called for a vote at the UN General Assembly after the US vetoed a resolution put to the Security Council rejecting Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem and relocate its embassy there. The US cannot veto General Assembly motions, which require a simple majority to be adopted.
"We're watching those votes," Trump said Wednesday.
"Let them vote against us, we'll save a lot. We don't care. But this isn't like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars and nobody knows what they're doing."
US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also attempted to put pressure on other countries not to vote against Washington, vowing to "take names."
But how realistic is this threat? And which governments are most vulnerable to US economic pressure?
Massive military aid budget
Ironically, one of the most vulnerable to US financial pressure is also the least likely to go against Washington in Thursday's UN vote: Israel.
The fourth biggest recipient of military funding however, is far more sensitive. Egypt received $1.1 billion from the DOD's Foreign Military Financing program and it's Cairo which is leading the push at the UN to condemn Trump's Jerusalem decision.
US funding has made up around 20-25% of Egypt's total military budget in recent years, according to statistics from the International Institute for Strategic Studies. No other country gives a comparable amount in military assistance to Cairo.
While that spending might make both a good carrot and stick, a chunk of it was already suspended over human rights concerns . There were reported plans to resume it next year, but Trump could very well reverse that.
Any long term cutting off of aid to Egypt's military -- which has run the country since a coup in 2013 -- is unlikely. US spending in Egypt ramped up after Cairo signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and the country remains vital to US security interests in the wider region.
Overseas development assistance
Military spending may be the biggest cudgel Washington has to bring to bear, but it's also the least likely to be cut.
Most countries that receive significant military assistance from the US do so because they are key to American security interests -- like Iraq, Ukraine or Pakistan.
Overseas development assistance, such as that provided by USAID, is a more likely target for cuts -- though reductions would still have a knock on effect on US businesses and citizens who rely on projects funded by donor programs.
Of the top 10 recipients of USAID money in 2016 , many were African nations, including Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Unlike Middle Eastern nations, which will face strong pressure internally to condemn the US Jerusalem move, these countries are also potentially less invested in supporting the Palestinians.
However, unlike in the Middle East and North Africa, where US assistance, particularly militarily, makes up a large portion of the total, African nations also receive significant funding from other sources.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which tracks global aid spending, between 2014-2015, Ethiopia received some $700 million from the US, compared to more than $800 million from the World Bank, $526 million from the UK and $224 million from European Union funds.
South Sudan will be more wary of losing US funds, which were more than the next four top donors combined, but Kenya Nigeria and the DRC all receive significant sums from other sources, particularly the World Bank and the UK.
Any US retreat from Africa would also be a huge boon to China, which has been massively increasing its footprint and influence on the continent. Beijing is already poised to replace Washington as the primary donor for much of the developing world , according to watchdog AidData, with much of its spending already going to African nations.
Nick Bisley, a professor of international relations at Australia's La Trobe University, said any move by the US to cut foreign assistance would be seen as a major opportunity by China.
"If (Washington) were to follow through on this threat, people who had that money withheld can go to Beijing," he said, where China's leaders are very much "in the market for winning friends and influence."
JUST WATCHED Trump's words on Jerusalem over the years Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump's words on Jerusalem over the years 01:54
Breach of diplomatic norms
It's difficult to judge how seriously to take Haley and Trump's threats, and whether they are being followed up with behind-the-scenes diplomatic pressure on certain countries to vote in Washington's favor.
But it remains almost impossible the US could sway enough countries to avoid censure by the General Assembly, where only a simple majority is required. Nor will US pressure necessarily have the effect Washington hopes.
"Personalizing it, making it a vote for or against President Trump, is a bizarrely stupid tactic," said Richard Gowan, a New York based UN expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
A senior foreign diplomat, who spoke anonymously to protect relations with the US, told CNN Wednesday "no matter how close we can be to the US, we are keen to keep up our longstanding attachment to UN Security Council resolutions on the Jerusalem status."
"For many members, especially Western ones, their votes reflect positions they've held for 50 years," the diplomat said. "The two-state solution, the status of Jerusalem through negotiation, etc. — they are supposed to abandon 50 years of policy, for what exactly?"
Every other member of the Security Council, including staunch US allies Japan and the UK, voted in favor of Egypt's earlier resolution this week
Bisley said Trump and Haley's rhetoric was "pretty crude and unsophisticated" and symptomatic of the administration's lack of a broader view of world affairs and the US role in them.
"They see everything in a short-term, reactive way, and don't see how this has negative repercussions for global influence," he said. "There's a real lack of big picture thinking and sense of the big, interconnected world out there."
The diplomat added any significant US pressure on this issue could leave Washington isolated when it needs UN support on issues like North Korea or Iran.
"Most of the time, the diplomatic community in New York is willing to put up with (Haley's) rhetorical flourishes," said Gowan. "This week is a bit different."
