JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a UN vote on Thursday that rejected a US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but expressed satisfaction at the number of countries that didn’t vote for the measure.
“We reject the decision of the UN but we are satisfied by the high number of countries that didn’t vote in favour of this decision,” the Israeli leader said in a Hebrew-language statement.
“Thank you to President Donald Trump for his clear position regarding Jerusalem and we say thank you to countries that voted together with Israel and together with the truth.”
The motion was backed by 128 countries and opposed by nine, with Guatemala, Honduras, Togo, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the Marshall Islands joining Israel and the United States in voting against the measure.
But 35 countries abstained including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania and Rwanda.
Ukraine, which supported the draft resolution at the Security Council, was among 21 countries that did not turn up for the vote.
Trump had warned ahead of the vote in the 193-nation assembly that “we’re watching” and threatened reprisals against countries backing the measure, which reaffirms that the status of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.
