As for this topic, please refer to my previous postings (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20171207)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20171209)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20171211)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20171212)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20171216). (Lily)
Times of Israel（https://www.timesofisrael.com/）
(1) UN defies Trump, rejects US recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital by 128-9
Non-binding General Assembly vote brands US president's decision on holy city 'null and void'; Haley notes '65 countries refused to condemn' US, including some surprise abstentions
by Raphael Ahren
21 December 2017
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday defied warnings from the United States and overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and calling on countries not to move their diplomatic missions to the city.
A total of 128 countries voted in favor of the text, defying President Donald Trump’s threat — forcefully reiterated in an address before the vote by US envoy Nikki Haley — to cut aid to countries that opposed the motion.
Nine countries — the US, Israel, Togo, Micronesia, Guatemala, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Honduras — voted against the resolution.
There were 35 abstentions, including a number of countries that had been widely expected to support the move, such as Colombia, Mexico, Malawi and Rwanda. A further 21 countries did not vote at all.
By abstaining, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Romania and the Czech Republic broke European Union consensus on the vote. The EU had previously vehemently rejected any attempt to change Jerusalem’s status in the absence of a final peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.
Haley tweeted after the vote that “65 countries refused to condemn the United States” — totaling the no votes, the abstentions and the no-shows.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a video, that “Israel completely rejects this preposterous resolution. Jerusalem is our capital — always was, always will be.” However, he added, “I do appreciate the fact that a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theater of the absurd.” He thanked Trump and Haley for their “stalwart defense” of Israel and the truth.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the number of countries that either opposed, abstained or were absent from the vote was “hugely significant.” The vote shows that “not the whole world is part of this show,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nachshon said.
A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said “The vote is a victory for Palestine,” and promised that the Palestinians would “continue our efforts in the United Nations and at all international forums to put an end to this occupation and to establish our Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.”
On Monday, in the Security Council, 14 out of 15 members voted in favor of the resolution, which failed to pass due to an American veto. There are no vetoes at the General Assembly, but — as opposed to the Security Council — resolutions passed there are not legally binding.
In November 2012, 138 countries voted on favor of a General Assembly resolution giving nonmember state status to the “State of Palestine.” Nine countries opposed the motion, with 41 abstentions. Less than a month ago, 151 countries voted in favor of a General Assembly resolution that condemns Israel in much harsher terms than Thursday’s vote. Only six countries opposed the motion, while nine abstained.
Recalling previous General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, the text passed Thursday expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem,” referring to Trump’s December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his announced intention to move the US embassy to the city.
The resolution also affirmed that “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, and in this regard, calls upon all States to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem.”
Without naming any country, it expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”
Before the vote, a series of officials addressed the “emergency special session” on “[i]llegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” The session was called by Yemen and Turkey.
The US ambassador to the UN, Haley, defended the administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, said the US had the sovereign right to place its embassies where it wished, and warned that America — the biggest funder of the UN — did not take kindly to being disrespected and paying for the “dubious privilege.”“The decision does not prejudge any final status issues, including Jerusalem’s boundaries. The decision does not preclude a two-state solution, if the parties agree to that,” she said. “The decision does nothing to harm peace efforts. Rather, the president’s decision reflects the will of the American people and our right as a nation to choose the location of our embassy.”
“America will put our embassy to Jerusalem,” Haley stressed. “That’s what the American people want us to do. And it’s the right thing to do.” No vote at the UN will make any difference on the American decision, she declared. But this vote will be remembered, she vowed, when America is being asked once again to make the single-largest contribution to the UN budget or when “so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”
“Those who support today’s resolution are like puppets pulled by the strings of the Palestinian puppet masters,” Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said. “You are like marionettes forced to dance while the Palestinian leadership looks on with glee.”
Passing the resolution distances the prospects for peace, Danon added. “If you vote for it, you’re rejecting peace,” he said, adding that he had no doubt that this resolution will end up “in the trash bin of history.”
During his speech, Danon displayed a coin from 67 AD minted during the Jewish revolt against the Romans, replicas of which had been distributed to the UN ambassadors before the vote. “On this coin is written ‘Freedom of Zion.’ It proves the ancient connection of Jews to Jerusalem,” Danon said. “No UNESCO declaration, no empty speeches, no General Assembly resolution will ever drive us from Jerusalem.”
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki attacked the US recognition of Jerusalem as an act of “aggression.” Palestine accepts the US’s right to make sovereign decisions, but only as long they are in line with international law, he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu called Trump’s Jerusalem recognition a violation of international law and an “attack on all universal values.”
He said that a member state had threatened all the other members to vote no or “face the consequences,” likely referring to the US. Countries were threatened with development aid cut, he went on. “This is bullying and this chamber will not do that. It is unethical to think the votes and dignity are for sale. … We will not be intimidated. You may be strong, but that does not make you right.”
Israeli officials had rejected the vote’s outcome before it took place.
“The State of Israel flatly rejects this vote even before it is held,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Thursday. “Jerusalem is our capital. We will continue to build in it and foreign embassies, led by the US embassy, will move to Jerusalem. It will happen.”
In the run-up to Thursday’s vote, Israeli diplomats stationed abroad made strenuous efforts to get as many countries as possible to oppose or abstain on the resolution.
“The Foreign Ministry is continuing its efforts to persuade as many countries as possible not to support the resolution, including by avoiding the vote,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon said hours before the vote.
“It is an effort stretching across the globe, in every continent,” he said. “Special effort is being made in Europe, in the hope of preventing a European consensus supporting the resolution.”
On Wednesday, Trump had praised Haley for warning foreign diplomats that she will be “taking names” of countries that support the resolution criticizing America’s position on Jerusalem.
“I like the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations for all of these nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council, or they vote against us potentially at the assembly,” the president told members of his cabinet in the White House.
“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. Let them vote against us, we’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”
(End)
(2) Full text of Nikki Haley’s speech to UN General Assembly on Jerusalem
'The US will remember this day, in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation'
by TOI Staff
21 December 2017
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley spoke to the UN General Assembly ahead of its vote on the status of Jerusalem, December 21, 2017:
Thank you, Mr. President.
To its shame, the United Nations has long been a hostile place for the state of Israel. Both the current and the previous Secretary-Generals have objected to the UN’s disproportionate focus on Israel. It’s a wrong that undermines the credibility of this institution, and that in turn is harmful for the entire world.
I’ve often wondered why, in the face of such hostility, Israel has chosen to remain a member of this body. And then I remember that Israel has chosen to remain in this institution because it’s important to stand up for yourself. Israel must stand up for its own survival as a nation; but it also stands up for the ideals of freedom and human dignity that the United Nations is supposed to be about.
Standing here today, being forced to defend sovereignty and the integrity of my country – the United States of America – many of the same thoughts have come to mind. The United States is by far the single largest contributor to the United Nations and its agencies. We do this, in part, in order to advance our values and our interests. When that happens, our participation in the UN produces great good for the world. Together we feed, clothe, and educate desperate people. We nurture and sustain fragile peace in conflict areas throughout the world. And we hold outlaw regimes accountable. We do this because it represents who we are. It is our American way.
But we’ll be honest with you. When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate expectation that our good will is recognized and respected. When a nation is singled out for attack in this organization, that nation is disrespected. What’s more, that nation is asked to pay for the “privilege” of being disrespected.
In the case of the United States, we are asked to pay more than anyone else for that dubious privilege. Unlike in some UN member countries, the United States government is answerable to its people. As such, we have an obligation to acknowledge when our political and financial capital is being poorly spent.
We have an obligation to demand more for our investment. And if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our resources in more productive ways. Those are the thoughts that come to mind when we consider the resolution before us today.
The arguments about the President’s decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem have already been made. They are by now well known. The decision was in accordance to U.S. law dating back to 1995, and it’s position has been repeatedly endorsed by the American people ever since. The decision does not prejudge any final status issues, including Jerusalem’s boundaries. The decision does not preclude a two-state solution, if the parties agree to that. The decision does nothing to harm peace efforts. Rather, the President’s decision reflects the will of the American people and our right as a nation to choose the location of our embassy. There is no need to describe it further.
Instead, there is a larger point to make. The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations. And we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.
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.
But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN. And this vote will be remembered.
Thank you.
(End)
(3) Trump says US ‘foolishly spent $7 trillion in the Middle East’
After Jerusalem defeat at UN General Assembly, US president tweets it is time to start focusing funds on rebuilding America
by TOI Staff and AP
US President Donald Trump said Friday it was time to focus funds on the US rather than foreign spending, tweeting: “After having foolishly spent $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is time to start rebuilding our country!”
The tweet came a day after Trump suffered a defeat at the United Nations General Assembly, which easily passed a resolution condemning his administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Trump had warned before the vote that the US could punish recipients of foreign aid who voted against the US at the General Assembly. On Wednesday he said countries “take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us.
“Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us, we’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”
It was not clear whether Friday’s tweet was in reference to this threat, as the full text focused on the need for bipartisan support for investment in infrastructure.
A total of 128 countries voted in favor of the UN resolution Thursday, defying Trump’s threat, which was forcefully reiterated in an address before the vote by US envoy Nikki Haley. Nine countries voted against while 35 abstained and 21 were no-shows.
Haley upped the ante further in a speech just before the vote. Not only was foreign aid in the crosshairs, but US funding for the United Nations was, too, she said. Haley said the United States would “remember this day” when it was singled out for exercising its sovereignty.
The ultimatums from Haley and Trump did not dissuade almost all the top recipients of the billions of dollars Washington gives each year, to help with security, development and other needs, from voting to reject Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Soon after, in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said cuts to countries that opposed the US were not a foregone conclusion.
Trump has often credited himself with restoring America’s credibility when it issues threats by following through when US adversaries cross “red lines” that he has set.
Of the top 10 beneficiaries of US assistance this year, only Israel voted “no” at the General Assembly — unsurprising, given that Israel’s government is overjoyed by Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem.
All the rest defied Trump by voting “yes,” with the exception of Kenya, which didn’t vote. Afghanistan, for which about $4.3 billion in US money was set aside in 2017, voted “yes” to rebuke Trump.
The “yes” votes included Egypt, which received roughly $1.4 billion in US aid, and Jordan, which received about $1.3 billion. Although both Arab nations are close US security partners that rely on American dollars, both would risk political upheaval at home if they did not voice opposition to the idea of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
・Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.
(End)
