US 'Will Remember This Day,' Haley Warns UN Ahead Of Vote On Jerusalem

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U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley addresses the General Assembly prior to the body's censure vote on Jerusalem on Thursday. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/Getty Images

The United Nations General Assembly gathered Thursday in New York for a hotly contested vote: Would the international body decide to denounce the U.S. for recognizing the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital?

But before the assembly could vote on the declaration, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley reserved some severe words for the diplomats present.

"The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation," Haley said Thursday.

"We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world's largest contribution to the United Nations. And we will remember it 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."

Earlier this month, President Trump announced his administration's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and begin the process of moving the U.S. Embassy to the disputed city. The move fulfilled a key campaign promise — but it also immediately set off a widespread backlash in countries across the world, who believe it would significantly undermine the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, who also claim Jerusalem as the capital of a prospective state.

As Israel celebrated the decision, the country's Arab neighbors condemned the move as a violation of an international resolution that forbids attempts "to alter the character and status" of the city before the peace process has concluded. And beyond the Middle East, countries across the West quickly reiterated the fact that their own embassies would not move from their present locations in Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, in the Palestinian territories, protests escalated into clashes between demonstrators and Israeli authorities. And rocket fire from the Gaza Strip was answered with Israeli airstrikes.

Earlier this week, the U.N. Security Council sought to vote on a resolution that demanded states avoid placing their diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. Without naming the U.S. or Trump, the resolution drafted by Egypt nevertheless would have proclaimed Trump's decision null and void. Every country on the council voted for the measure Monday — but the U.S., which holds veto power, blocked the vote.

As NPR's Daniel Estrin notes, the Palestinian delegation would not let the matter rest there: "With this U.N. vote [Thursday], the Palestinians want to show the U.S. that the majority of the world backs their positions," he told Morning Edition.

"And it's part of a bigger diplomatic move that the Palestinians are making to sideline the U.S. in the peace process. They think America has taken Israel's side on the sensitive issue of Jerusalem."

Haley, for her part, decried what she sees as building anti-Israeli sentiment in the U.N.

"To its shame the United Nations has long been a hostile place for the state of Israel," Haley told the General Assembly on Thursday. "It's a wrong that undermines the credibility of this institution and that, in turn, is harmful for the entire world.

"I've often wondered why, in the face of such hostility, Israel has chosen to remain a member of this body," she added. "And then I remember that Israel has chosen to remain in this institution because it's important to stand up for yourself."

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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Read Again https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/21/572565091/u-s-will-remember-this-day-haley-warns-u-n-ahead-of-vote-on-jerusalem

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