UN Rejects U.S. Recognition of Jerusalem

In Blow to Trump and Netanyahu, UN Rejects U.S. Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's Capital

 An overwhelming majority of 128 member states voted in favor of the resolution, with only 9 voting against and 35 abstaining; Netanyahu says Israel 'completely rejects preposterous' decision

Noa Landau Dec 21, 2017 7:15 PM

In a major diplomatic blow to Israel and U.S. President Donald Trump, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with 128 member states voting in favor of the resolution and a mere nine voting against it.

Among the countries that voted in favor of the resolution are India, Russia and China, all countries Netanyahu has touted as allies recently. However, some countries surprised Israel by breaking the consesus at the UN, such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Romania, Croatia and Poland.

"Israel completely rejects this preposterous resolution," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said minutes after the results were announced.

"Jerusalem is our capital, always was and always will be. But I do appreciate the fact that a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theater of the absurd," the premier charged in a live Facebook video.

Netanyahu went on to add: "So I appreciate that and especially I want to again express our thanks to President Trump and Ambassador Haley for their stalwart defense of Israel and their stalwart defense of the truth."

Netanyahu used strong words to bash the international body even before the vote, calling it a "house of lies" and proclaiming that "the State of Israel rejects this vote outright" and that "Jerusalem is our capital, we will continue to build there and additional embassies will move to Jerusalem."