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After US Veto, UN General Assembly to Hold Emergency Session on Jerusalem Status

Jerusalem
According to Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour, the General Assembly will vote on a draft resolution calling for Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to be withdrawn.
Jerusalem
According to Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour, the General Assembly will vote on a draft resolution calling for Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to be withdrawn.

New Delhi: When President Trump announced on December 6 that the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, he set in motion a plan to move the U.S. Embassy there. The draft U.N. Security Council resolution that the U.S. vetoed would have called on all governments “to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem.”

After this move, the UN General Assembly will hold a special session on Thursday, following a request by Arab and Muslim states.

According to Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour, the General Assembly will vote on a draft resolution calling for Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to be withdrawn. The same resolution, put to the UN Security Council, was vetoed by the United States on Monday.

“The United States will not be told by any country where we can put our embassy,” US envoy Nikki Haley said.

Haley reiterated that President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital reflects long-standing U.S. political support — for Israel and for peace.

“The United States has never been more committed to peace in the Middle East,” Haley said. “We were committed to it before the president announced our recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and we’re committed to it today.”

The US – along with Russia, China, the UK, and France – is a permanent member of the Security Council, meaning that resolutions cannot be passed if it exercises its “right to veto.” All other UNSC members voted in favor of the resolution on Monday.

The representatives seek to invoke UN Resolution 377, known as the “Uniting for Peace” resolution, which is the only way to circumvent a Security Council veto. According to this resolution the assembly can call an emergency special session to consider a matter “with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures,” if the Security Council fails to act.

US President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel prompting violent protests across the Middle East, Europe, and beyond. Although its biggest allies in the UN, including the UK and France, have slammed the decision, US envoy Nikki Haley has repeatedly stated that it was the “right thing to do,” as Jerusalem is indisputably the capital of the Jewish state.