The United Nations Security Council is considering voting on a draft resolution earlier next week that would consider any changes to the status of Jerusalem legally invalid and call on any such changes to be reversed, according to Saturday media reports.
While not naming the US specifically, the Egyptian-drafted text, seen by AFP and Reuters news agencies, is a significant repudiation from the international community of US President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this month to recognize the holy city as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.
The draft resolution states 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status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”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 draft also demands that states refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem in accordance with prior Security Council resolutions that declare any changes in the status of Jerusalem as a city divided between Israelis and Palestinians to be violations international law.
Security Council vote — and veto?
The one-page draft was circulated to the 15 members of the Security Council on Saturday. They are expected to vote on the resolution this coming week, perhaps as early as Monday.
The measure would need nine backing votes from the Council’s 14 members in order to pass, including no vetoes from the permanent members: US, France, Britain, Russia and China.
Diplomats expect that most members of the council are expected to vote in favor. However, a veto vote is likely from the US Ambassador to the UN Niki Haley. She has called Trump’s decision as “the just and right thing to do.”
If the Security Council rejects the draft resolution, the measure could be taken to the General Assembly for a vote.
Palestinians have been calling for a toughly-worded that directly calls out the US and demanding that the country rescind its decision. Palestinians and their supporters worldwide have taken to the streets in protest since Trump’s announcement.
However, some diplomats said that various US allies in the UN have called for a more toned-down approach, urging resolutions that instead reaffirm the international body’s position on Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, a city holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians, has been divided between Israelis and Palestinians since 1948, with Israel taking control of East Jerusalem in 1967. The UN does not recognize this annexation or the city as the undivided capital of Israel.
The UN also insists that any changes in Jerusalem’s status be achieved through negotiations.
Israel has declared all of Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinians claim the city’s eastern section as the capital of their future state.
