UN Council Mulls Call for US Jerusalem Decision to Be Withdrawn

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The U.N. Security Council, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, is considering a draft resolution that would insist any decisions on the city's status have no legal effect and must be rescinded. The one-page Egyptian-drafted text, which was circulated to the 15-member council Saturday and seen by Reuters, does not specifically mention the United States or Trump. Diplomats say it has broad support but will most likely be vetoed by Washington. Diplomats said the council could vote as early as Monday or Tuesday. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to be adopted. In announcing his decision on Jerusalem this month, Trump abruptly reversed decades of U.S. policy, generating outrage from Palestinians and defying warnings of Middle East violence. Trump also plans to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The draft U.N. resolution "affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council." It "calls upon all states to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem, pursuant to resolution 478 (1980) of the Security Council." Israel considers the city its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city's eastern sector, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally. The draft council resolution "demands that all states comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem, and not to recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions."
December 16, 2017 at 12:25PM