With the UN General Assembly having adopted a resolution, rejecting the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by a 128-to-9 vote, member countries continue to react against the U.S.’s threat of cutting financial aid to those who would vote in favor. Earlier Donald Trump has threatened to withhold “billions” of dollars of US aid from countries which vote in favour of a United Nations resolution rejecting the US president’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The permanent representatives of Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cuba, Venezuela as well as Malaysia described the U.S. decision on Jerusalem as “unacceptable” while other representatives noted the U.S. was “trying to buy off member states’ votes.”
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s remarks the U.S. threats to cut development aids as “unacceptable” and “immoral. She further said, “It is immoral to think that the votes of member states could be bought. We will not be intimidated. You can be strong, but this doesn’t make you right.”
Venezuela’s permanent representative at the UN Samuel Moncada called on the U.S. to put an end to its provocations at the UN. He said, “The world is not for sale.”
A number of notable U.S. figures also voiced their criticisms of the official U.S. stance on the Jerusalem vote. The former CIA Director John Brennan said in his Twitter account, “Trump Admin threat to retaliate against nations that exercise sovereign right in UN to oppose US position on Jerusalem is beyond outrageous. Shows Trump expects blind loyalty and subservience from everyone—qualities usually found in narcissistic, vengeful autocrats.”
A former analyst at the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center Phil Mudd, strongly criticized the Trump administration and said, “I think the rest of the world is laughing at us. 128 countries said we’re a bunch of idiots.”
Aside from the UN member states’ reactions, representatives of American Muslim communities also directed their strong criticisms at the U.S. administration.
Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Nihad Awad issued a written statement, where he said, “The Trump administration received a “diplomacy lesson” at the UN General Assembly and a strong alliance against him had emerged in favor of the Palestinian cause. The threats “to cut financial aids” were a wrong step and stated they were glad to see it did not succeed.”
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted the resolution that rejected the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, calling on the Trump administration to reverse its move. A total of 128 members voted in favor of the Jerusalem resolution, nine countries voted against and 35 others abstained. Twenty-one countries did not cast a vote.
Earlier, U.S. President Trump threatened to cut aid to countries who voted in favor of the Jerusalem resolution.
At the White House, Trump said, “They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care. But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars.”
