Despite threats by the US to cut off aid to any country which votes against President Donald Trump’s declaration recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a massive 128 nations voted against the decision at a rare special session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
The 128 members voted for a resolution demanding that the United States rescind its Dec. 6 declaration on Jerusalem, which has been under contention between Israel and the Palestinian state since Israel annexed it in 1967.
Nigeria was one of the top African nations that rejected America’s stance on Jerusalem, despite the risk of losing more than N244 billion, according to 2017 data The Herald Nigeria obtained from United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Nine small countries, one of which is Togo, supported the US, while 35 nations abstained, including key US allies Australia and Canada.
Before the vote by the 193-member Assembly, US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley had warned members that America “will remember this day”.
She warned, “America will put our embassy in Jerusalem. No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that.”
“But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN.
“When we make generous contributions to the UN we also have a legitimate expectation that our goodwill is recognised and respected,” she said.
This follows a letter to dozens of US states on Wednesday where Haley said Trump ordered her to “take names” of countries that votes against the decision in preparation for cutting more than $13 billion in financial aid, Reuters reported.
List of countries that voted against the US:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, China, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic, People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, and Ecuador.
Others are Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger and Nigeria.
Also in this category are: Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria
T: Tajikistan, Thailand, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey
U: United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam
Yemen and Zimbabwe.
The countries which supported Trump’s stance were Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia
Nauru, Palau, Togo and United States.