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US vetoes UN SC resolution against recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

The resolution received support of 14 members of the UN Security Council

Palestinians in the city of Ramallah during a protest against the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

Palestinians in the city of Ramallah during a protest against the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

© AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

UNITED NATIONS, December 18. /TASS/. The United States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution against recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city.

The resolution scored support of 14 members of the UN Security Council.

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"The draft resolution received 14 votes in favor... The draft resolution is not adopted due to a negative vote of a permanent member," said Koro Bessho, Japan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations who presides Security Council in December.

The draft resolution was circulated among UN Security Council members last week. It stresses that any decisions, measures or action that might change Jerusalem’s status are legally void and must be annulled. The draft doesn’t mention the United States but it expresses regret over the recent decisions concerning Jerusalem’s status. Apart from that, the draft calls on countries not to recognize any actions or measures that run counter to the Security Council resolutions and to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in that city.

The document came as a response to US President Donald Trump’s decision on December 6 to move the US embassy to Jerusalem as it was time to recognize that city as Israel’s capital.

Explaining the negative vote, US Permanent Representative Nikki Haley said it had been done to protect her country’s sovereignty and its right to choose where to have its embassy.

Last time the United States used its right to veto in February 2011 when the UN Security Council considered a draft resolution concerning Israel’s settlement activity on the occupied Palestinian territories. The United States has blocked 14 resolutions on the Palestinian problem and the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1990 and has blocked a total of 20 UN Security Council documents over the UN’s existence.

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