Info from International Voting at the UN General Assembly on Jerusalem, 128 Countries Against the US

Voting in the emergency UN General Assembly session on Thursday (21/12/2017), found 128 countries opposed to the United States step that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 

As the UN website released, only nine countries supported the US move, while 35 other countries abstained. AFP news agency said, in the same line with the United States and Israel are Guatemala, Honduras, Togo, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Marshall Islands. 

 The abstentions include Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Croatia and Mexico. Ukraine, which was previously in the UN Security Council, backed a draft resolution that rejected the US move on Jerusalem in Thursday's vote to be included in a row of abstained nations. The majority of UN member states in the General Assembly's emergency session demand that all countries comply with UN Security Council resolutions on the status of Jerusalem. The resolution as a result of this vote also expressed "deep regret" over the recent decision on the status of Jerusalem. The resolution reaffirms that the final status of Jerusalem can only be resolved through direct talks between Palestine and Israel as agreed in previous UN resolutions. 

 The UN General Assembly vote was held after the United States on Monday (18/12/2017) exercised a veto to reject a draft UN Security Council resolution calling on the country to cancel the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Only the United States opposes the draft resolution at the UN Security Council's session of 15 members. Voting on the UN Security Council on Monday (18/12/2017), for a resolution against the United States step recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 

Although supported by 14 of the 15 UN Security Council member states, the resolution failed to emerge because the Americans used their veto rights. (Un.org/UN Photo / Kim Haughton) The recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel declared United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday (6/12/2017) and immediately received rejection from various parts of the world, including Indonesia. Not binding The UN General Assembly's emergency session was held at the request of the Palestinians and received support from a number of countries, following the United States veto on the UN Security Council. A day before the trial was held, the United States threatened to sanction the economy to UN member states who speak out against it. UN Resolution 377, published in 1950, became the legal umbrella of the UN General Assembly's emergency session in the event that the UN Security Council failed to make peace-related resolutions due to the use of veto power. This procedure is known as "uniting for peace". 

The full terms of this procedure can be accessed via the https://www.un.org/en/ga/sessions/emergency.shtml link. Unfortunately, the resolution resulting from an UN General Assembly emergency session like this does not have binding legal force. The resolution also can not force the use of international law as if the resolution was issued by the UN Security Council. However, the UN Security Council resolution issued in 1980 related to the prohibition for every country to hold diplomatic missions in Jerusalem has never been revoked. The resolution of the final status of Jerusalem must be decided by direct Palestinian and Israeli negotiations - published in 1967 - is still valid. US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said his country would still move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem despite the UN General Assembly resolution. 

 "The United States will place our embassy (in Israel) in Jerusalem .... No resolution at the UN will make a difference in that," Haley told the UN General Assembly. However, Haley said, America would "remember" the day of the vote. According to him, the United States now has a view that is no longer the same about the United Nations and countries that are against each other. "When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate hope that our goodwill is recognized and respected," Haley said. The Palestinians welcomed this UN General Assembly resolution. "The outcome of this vote is a victory for the Palestinians," Nabil Abu Rdainal, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters. The Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour called the voting result 128 to nine this is a major setback for the United States.