US President Donald Trump has threatened the termination of financial aid to countries that support UN resolutions against Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
As is known, earlier this month,
Trump said Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, although from the beginning it has been criticized internationally and recently triggered rallies in several places.
"They take millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, they vote against us," he told reporters at the White House.
"Let them speak out against us, we'll save a lot, we do not care," he said.
His comments came ahead of a vote in the UN General Assembly on Thursday (21/12/2017), to produce a resolution opposed to recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Earlier, the US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned the UN member states about President Trump asking him to report on a country opposed to the US decision on the vote.
"The president will observe the vote carefully and have asked me to report on the countries that are against us," he said.
"The President's announcement will in no way affect the final status talks, including the special frontier of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem," he added.
"The president also made clear support for the status quo (current state) of the holy sites of Jerusalem," Haley said.
Haley reiterated his warning via Twitter message, "The US will record names (countries)."
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the United States of intimidating.
"We see the US being left alone now turning threatening: no honorable and dignified country will be subject to this pressure," Cavusoglu said.
The status of Jerusalem is a major issue in the long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel occupied the eastern region of the city, previously controlled by Jordan, during the Middle East War in 1967.
The Israeli government considers the entire territory of Jerusalem an inseparable capital.
While the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of the future state. Under the Oslo Agreement in 1993, the status of Jerusalem will ultimately be established in the next stage of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
A total of 193 members of the UN General Assembly will hold an unusual special session on Thursday at the request of Arab and Islamic countries condemning President Trump's decision to change US policy for decades.
The Palestinians urged a special meeting to be held after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that affirms any decision on the status of Jerusalem "void and abolish".
The UN also urges all countries to refrain from forming a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem.
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