Palestinians to seek UN backing if US vetoes Jerusalem resolution

The Palestinians will seek United Nations General Assembly support if the US vetoes a Security Council resolution against its decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a minister said Monday.

The Security Council is expected to vote later Monday on a draft resolution rejecting US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The vote, called by Egypt, is likely to see the United States use its veto power.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said they would seek support at the General Assembly if the US ambassador Nikki Haley exercises Washington’s veto.

While Haley considers “the veto a source of pride and strength, we will show her their position is isolated and rejected internationally,” Malki said in a statement.

The UN General Assembly is expected to hold a plenary session Tuesday, including a discussion on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

The five permanent members of the Security Council have veto power, but there are no vetoes at the General Assembly.

Breaking with international consensus, President Donald Trump on December 6 recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and said he would move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, sparking protests and strong condemnation.

US Vice President Mike Pence will visit Jerusalem on Wednesday, wading into the crisis over one of the most controversial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has scrapped a meeting with Pence in protest at the Jerusalem announcement, and will instead head to Saudi Arabia to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Abbas has sought to unify the Muslim world in opposition to Trump’s Jerusalem move.

On Monday night the Palestinian leadership will meet for the first time since Trump’s announcement.

Israel seized control of the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and sees the whole of Jerusalem as its undivided capital.

The Palestinians view the east as the capital of their future state.