U.N. approves resolution overwhelmingly condemning Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
The
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly approved a resolution on
Thursday condemning President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital.
The 128 member states of the UNGA
voted to condemn Trump’s move, with just seven other states joining the U.S.
and Israel in voting against the resolution. There were 35 abstentions. The
overwhelming approval of the anti-Israel resolution was hailed as a victory for
the Palestinians.
The vote was taken shortly after
the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley,
issued a strong warning to states who support the resolution — reminding the
UNGA of the financial aid Washington provides to both the U.N. and many member
states.
“We will remember it when we are
called upon once again to make the world’s largest contribution to the United
Nations,” she said. “And we will remember when so many countries come calling
on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their
benefit.”
Even
so, major U.S. aid recipients including Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan,
Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania and South Africa supported the resolution. Most of
these nations are Muslim. Egypt received roughly $1.4 billion in U.S. aid this
year, and Jordan about $1.3 billion.
Trump has long complained that the
U.S. shoulders a disproportionate share of the U.N.’s financial burden. “They
take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they
vote against us,” he fumed.
More
disappointing for the U.S. was that the resolution was sponsored by Turkey, a
NATO member and a traditional Islamic ally of the U.S. in the Middle East. NATO
was founded in 1949 by the U.S. as an alliance against the defunct Soviet
Union.
Saudi
Arabia, other strong Islamic ally of the U.S., also voted against Trump at the
U.N., in spite of the fact that in his first international trip, Trump gave all preference to the Saudis,
by visiting first Saudi Arabia, and leaving Israel in second place. Trump made a US$ 110 billion sale of military
equipment to Saudi Arabia — which the White House said that it was the “largest
single arms deal in U.S. history.”
Although Democratic and Republican
presidents have long affirmed that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, Trump’s
declaration to move the embassy to Jerusalem on Dec. 6 was the only step to put
into action decades of non-official recognition.
With his pro-Israel stance and
attitude, Trump, who may be a new King Cyrus, has surpassed all Democratic and
Republican presidents.
Despite the U.N.’s condemnation,
the Trump administration isn’t caving to international pressure.
“Israel
completely rejects this preposterous resolution. Jerusalem is our capital,
always was, always will be,” he said in a video posted online after the
resolution passed.
Trump’s decision to recognize
Jerusalem triggered protests across the Muslim world and drew strong
international condemnation, including from the Vatican, which has traditionally
maintained a negative stance on Israel.
Brazil, the largest Catholic nation
in the world, supported the Turkish resolution and voted against Trump and
Israel. Even though Brazilian evangelicals are strongly pro-Israel, they are a
minority in the population and in the government.
Key U.S. allies Britain, France,
Italy, Japan and Ukraine were among the 14 countries in the 15-member U.N.
Security Council that had already voted against Trump’s decision.
Trump’s
courageous decision, which was influenced by his main electoral base of evangelicals, is a testament to the U.S.
evangelical legacy, which is strongly pro-Israel. No other religion is closer
to Israel than evangelicalism.
The United Nations, whose
headquarters are in U.S. soil, was an original idea of U.S.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had not for Israel and the Jews the
same sympathy he had for Saudi Arabia.
The Bible, which was divinely
written firstly in Hebrew, says:
“Pray
for the peace of Jerusalem!” (Psalm 122:6a ESV)
There is no better way for peace to
come than Jerusalem being recognized as the undivided and eternal capital of
Israel and Jews, its legitimate owners and inhabitants, knowing Jesus as their
only Messiah and Savior. Fervent prayer can achieve these two urgent results.
Portuguese
version of this article: Em maioria esmagadora, ONU aprova resolução condenando
reconhecimento de Trump de Jerusalém como capital de Israel
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