Kathmandu, December 22

Nepal voted in favour of a resolution passed overwhelmingly in the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday which called for the US to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

A total of 128 countries voted for the resolution supporting the long-standing international consensus that the status of Jerusalem — which is claimed as capital by both Israel and Palestine — can only be settled as an agreed final issue in a peace deal.

While 35 abstained, nine countries voted against the resolution, including the US, Micronesia, Nauru, Togo and Tonga, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Guatemala and Honduras.

Co-sponsored by Turkey and Yemen, the resolution called US President Donald Trump’s unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ‘null and void’ and reaffirmed 10 security council resolutions on Jerusalem, dating back to 1967, including requirements that the city’s final status must be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

It also “demands that all states comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the holy city of Jerusalem, and not to recognise any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions”.

The results come despite Trump’s threats to cut aid to UN members who would vote against his decision. The threats were intensified by the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley who said Washington would remember which countries ‘disrespected’ the US by voting against it.

A senior foreign ministry official said Nepal’s decision to vote for the resolution was in line with Nepal’s long-standing position on the Israel-Palestine row that the bilateral issue should be addressed amicably. “Also the decision was based on Nepal’s firm commitment to the principles and ideals of Non-Aligned Movement for promoting global understanding,” the MoFA official said.

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