BICOM

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) will convene tomorrow at 3pm UK time for an emergency session in response to US President Donald Trump’s Jerusalem announcement.

Turkey and Yemen requested the urgent meeting of the 193-nation assembly, on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), following Monday’s vote on an Egyptian-drafted resolution at the UN Security Council which was vetoed by the US. The UNGA will vote on a new draft resolution that closely resembles Monday’s Security Council resolution, which expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem”.

Although the vote will be non-binding, an overwhelming majority are expected to support the draft resolution. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned about the vote, tweeting: “On Thursday there’ll be a vote criticising our choice. The US will be taking names.”

In a message to its missions around the world, Israel’s Foreign Ministry reportedly advised diplomats to encourage their host countries to oppose the new UNGA draft resolution. Israeli diplomats were told to empahsise that Jerusalem is the de facto capital of Israel and that the resolution is one-sided and will harm Trump’s peace efforts and may also lead to further violence in the region.

According to Haaretz the Foreign Ministry is planning to focus its efforts on Eastern European countries and some African countries with which ties have grown stronger in recent years.

Trump discussed his Jerusalem announcement with UK Prime Minister Theresa May. According to the Prime Minister’s spokesperson, both world leaders “discussed the different positions… on the recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, and agreed on the importance of the US bringing forward new proposals for peace and the international community supporting these efforts”.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said that while the Israeli Government expects the resolution to pass, it will hold “no implications, and we call upon Palestinians to stop the incitement and return to the negotiating table”.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian observer at the UN, said he expected “overwhelming support” for the measure, stating that Jerusalem is an issue “to be resolved through negotiations” between Israel and the Palestinians. “The General Assembly will say, without the fear of the veto, that the international community is refusing to accept the unilateral position of the US,” Mansour told reporters.