The President of the United States on Wednesday confirmed that countries voting in favor of a United Nations draft resolution condemning the U.S.’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel could lose U.S. aid money.
“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,” Reuters quoted Trump as saying during a White House press conference.
The statement follows a letter sent to UN members by U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, in which she warned other ambassadors that she would “report back on those countries who voted against us.”
The vote will take place during an emergency session on Thursday. While the resolution is expected to easily pass with a majority of the 193-member votes, even if every member outside of the U.S. and Israel voted to approve the draft resolution, the decision would be non-binding.
On Twitter, Haley continued the threats, tweeting out:
“At the UN we’re always asked to do more & give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt where to locate OUR embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us. On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names.”
According to Reuters, Trump said he “likes” Haley’s message.
“I like the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations, for all those nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council, or they vote against us potentially at the assembly,” Trump said.
PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi hit back at Trump in a statement, warning that “there are things that are not for sale or subject to blackmail.”
“President Trump should know that there are things that are not for sale or subject to blackmail, particularly issues of principle, legality and morality. Extortion is the most effective way for the U.S. to isolate itself even further and to weaken its influence and standing globally,” Ashrawi wrote.
“We will not be deterred or intimidated,” she added. “The overwhelming majority of the UN General Assembly members will honor their own legal and political obligations on Palestine.”
The vote on the draft resolution in the General Assembly, expected to take place on Thursday, follows a vote in the Security Council that took place on Monday, where the resolution was vetoed by the U.S. — the first Security Council veto the U.S. had made in six years. The last instance was in 2011 when the Obama administration struck down a resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlement construction.
The other 14 members of the Security Council voted to approve the Egyptian-drafted resolution.
The resolution did not mention the United States by name, but targeted the Trump administration’s Dec. 6 decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, by affirming “that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”
The U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, announced on Dec. 6, signaled a shift in long standing foreign policy, both for the U.S. and the international community.
Since the creation of Israel, no country outside of Israel has accepted Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, since the city’s sovereignty is an essential issue between the two powers and the future of the peace process, as both Israel and Palestine imagine Jerusalem working as their state capital after any potential negotiations are reached in the future.
Nothing smells like MAGA more than strong-arming your u.n. compatriots with threats and extortion, climate change and science denial, yet full throttle support of the rogue litterbox of the middle east (and who knows what else is heading to a theater near us all courtesy of the united states with tRUMP as the newest Don).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Bernard_(diplomat)
“In 2001, Daniel Bernard came to public attention when, as French Ambassador to the United Kingdom, he was quoted as saying: “All the current troubles in the world are because of that shitty little country Israel.” The diplomat added, “Why should the world be in danger of World War III because of those people?”
The remark was reported to have taken place during a conversation with Conrad Black of the Daily Telegraph at a private dinner party Black was hosting. Bernard’s comment was then later repeated in an article written by Black’s wife, Barbara Amiel, in the Daily Telegraph.
Initially, Bernard stated that he could not remember making it, but later insisted that what he said had been thoroughly distorted. Bernard’s press secretary stated, “He does not deny the remarks, he just says first of all what he said was distorted.” He also stated that he was outraged that a private discussion was reported by the media and clearly stated that he would not apologise.
Bernard’s spokesman, Yves Charpentier, stated that Bernard felt there was no need for him to apologize. He stated that “In the course of the discussion the ambassador referred to ‘little Israel’ in the sense that it is geographically small, but that nevertheless the scale of the consequences is huge and the repercussions around the world are tremendous.”
I hope these 14 member nations have the spine to stand with their convictions, regardless of the threats from the thug in charge and his prized bitch pit bull.
Will be interesting to see which countries, if any, vote against today’s UN general assembly resolution, and which abstain. The ones most dependent on US aid? That’s always been the case at the UN when the topic is Israel.
Just shows how stupid Trump and Haley are, even those countries who might think about backing the US in the UNGA vote, must be thinking twice, for instance, how other countries would think of them as craven satraps with absolutely no self respect [rather like Congress to AIPAC].
How funny it would be if the US stopped aid to all those countries, leaving Israel as the only recipient of such aid.
Its 1947 all over again: Same happened when the US rigged partition plan voting.
“Reports of pressure for the Plan
Liberia (Vote: For): Liberia’s Ambassador to the United States complained that the US delegation threatened aid cuts to several countries.[78]
Philippines (Vote: For): In the days before the vote, the Philippines’ representative General Carlos P. Romulo stated “We hold that the issue is primarily moral. The issue is whether the United Nations should accept responsibility for the enforcement of a policy which is clearly repugnant to the valid nationalist aspirations of the people of Palestine. The Philippines Government holds that the United Nations ought not to accept such responsibility”. After a phone call from Washington, the representative was recalled and the Philippines’ vote changed.[72]
Haiti (Vote: For): The promise of a five million dollar loan may or may not have secured Haiti’s vote for partition.
France (Vote: For): Shortly before the vote, France’s delegate to the United Nations was visited by Bernard Baruch, a long-term Jewish supporter of the Democratic Party who, during the recent world war, had been an economic adviser to President Roosevelt, and had latterly been appointed by President Truman as the United States’ ambassador to the newly created UN Atomic Energy Commission. He was, privately, a supporter of the Irgun and its front organization, the American League for a Free Palestine. Baruch implied that a French failure to support the resolution might cause planned American aid to France, which was badly needed for reconstruction, French currency reserves being exhausted and its balance of payments heavily in deficit, not to materialise. Previously, in order to avoid antagonising its Arab colonies, France had not publicly supported the resolution. After considering the danger of American aid being withheld, France finally voted in favour of it. So, too, did France’s neighbours, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine#Reports_of_pressure_for_and_against_the_Plan
The US also delayed voting until the necessary 2/3 majority was “ensured”.
So much for the “legitimacy” of Israel.