UN Security Council to vote on draft resolution on Jerusalem on Monday

CAIRO – 18 December 2017: The U.N. Security Council will vote on Monday on a draft resolution submitted by Egypt, calling on U.S. administration to reverse its decision regarding the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to some diplomats.

Diplomats are expecting the United States will veto on that resolution before the Security Council.

The diplomats mentioned that the draft, issued by Egypt on Saturday to the 15-member council, has been supported by many members.

To be adopted, nine members of the Security Council should agree on it, and at the same time the U.S, France, United Kingdom, Russia or China should not veto against it.

The resolution affirms that any change to Jerusalem’s status has no legal effect and must be reversed, stressing that Jerusalem is an issue "to be resolved through negotiations." It also expresses "deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem," without specifically mentioning Trump's decision.

Breaking with the international consensus, Trump declared on December 8 that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and that the U.S. Embassy will be relocated there. After the decision, Arab foreign ministers agreed to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, "strongly condemned" the draft, dismissing it as an attempt by the Palestinians "to reinvent history."

"No vote or debate will change the clear reality that Jerusalem has and always will be the capital of Israel," Danon said in a statement.

The draft resolution calls on all countries to refrain from opening embassies in Jerusalem, reflecting concerns that other governments could follow the U.S lead.

It demands that all member-states not recognize any actions that are contrary to U.N. resolutions on the status of the city.

Several U.N. resolutions called on Israel to withdraw from territory seized during the 1967 War and have reaffirmed the need to end occupying that land.