US vetoes UNSC resolution on Jerusalem

Washington, December 19 : The US has voted against a UN resolution calling on President Donald Trump to withdraw recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the first veto exercised by America in the world body in six years.
Trump on December 6 announced that he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, triggering protests and strong condemnation.
Even America’s closest allies on the 15-member Council, the most powerful body in the UN system, voted for the resolution.
They warned that Trump’s announcement about Jerusalem, which upended decades of American policy, threatened to subvert the effort to solve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.
This was the first veto exercised by the Trump administration and the first one by the US in six years.
“The fact that this veto is being done in defence of American sovereignty and in defence of America’s role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us; it should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the Security Council,” US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has said in defence of exercising veto.