India among 128 UN members that vote against US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israeli capital
The resolution urged the US to withdraw its decision, but US envoy Nikki Haley said no UN vote would stop the country from moving its embassy to Jerusalem.
India was among the 128 members of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly that voted on Thursday in favour of the resolution calling on the United States to withdraw its decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. US President Donald Trump on Thursday had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favour of the resolution.
Nine members opposed the move, and 35 abstained from the vote to adopt a resolution on the US policy.
In an address before the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said “no vote in the United Nations will make any difference” to the country’s decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN,” she said at the emergency session of the UN General Assembly.
The US had vetoed a draft of this resolution at the UN Security Council on Monday. The resolution deals with the US decision to overturn decades of policy towards West Asia and formally recognise Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel on December 7.
Haley also warned that the US “will remember” countries that vote to condemn President Trump’s decision to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate expectation that our goodwill is recognised,” she said. “If our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our resources in more productive ways.”
Jerusalem, which is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, is home to Islam’s third holiest site – the al-Aqsa mosque – and has been at the centre of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians for decades. Israel captured East Jerusalem, which predominantly has Arab households, in 1967 and later annexed it in a move that is not recognised internationally.
The international community has condemned Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli Capital.