Haley warns US ‘will be taking names’ when UNGA votes on Jerusalem decision

NEW YORK, Dec 20 (APP):The United States has publicly warned U.N. member states not to support an Arab resolution in the UN General Assembly resolution denouncing US President Donald Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.
The text will also call for nations, including the US, not to relocate their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. To date, the US is the only country who said it will do so.l.
“At the UN we’re always asked to do more and give more,” US Ambassador to UN Nikki Haley wrote on Twitter. “So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American people, about 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.”
The General Assembly is set to hold an emergency session Thursday regarding President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The body is expected to vote on a resolution calling on the U.S. to reverse the move.
The anticipated General Assembly vote comes days after Haley vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would seek to nullify any move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. That resolution did not specifically mention Trump or the U.S.
Haley defended the veto on Monday, saying that the Security Council resolution was an affront to U.S. sovereignty.
“What we witnessed here in the Security Council is an insult,” she said. “It won’t be forgotten.”
While the U.S. is among the five countries that wield veto power on the Security Council, it has no such veto power in the General Assembly.
The resolution on Jerusalem would not be legally binding, so the vote is largely symbolic.
Haley’s tweet on Tuesday was not her first time warning that the U.S. would be “taking names” at the U.N. She similarly used the line in January, shortly after taking office, when she advised countries not to cross the U.S.
She also issued a warning to member states in a letter that partially circulated online.
“To be clear, we are not asking for other countries [to] move their embassies to Jerusalem, though we think it would be appropriate. We are simply asking you acknowledge the historical friendship, partnership, and support we have extended and respect our decision about our embassy.
“The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those who voted against us. We will take note of every vote on this issue,” Haley wrote.
Trump’s Jerusalem decision upended decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem, and has threatened to derail future peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians talks that Trump has vowed to broker.
Israel has long considered Jerusalem its capital, but Palestinians have aspired to establish the eastern sector of the city as the capital of a future Palestinian state.