(MENAFN- Jordan Times) As was broadly expected, the US vetoed an Egyptian drafted one-page UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Jerusalem on Monday that won the unequivocal positive support from all the remaining 14 members thus accentuating the Isolation of Washington from the rest of the world on the fate of Jerusalem.
There was a glimmer of hope, albeit very faint, that the US would reconsider its stance on Jerusalem after the unanimous condemnation of President Donald Trump's recognition of the holy city as the capital of Israel and his decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The rejected draft was benign enough that could have been adopted by the UNSC had the US altered its position even a tiny bit on the issue to accommodate worldwide opposition.
The vetoed resolution, that merely reiterated previous UN resolutions on Jerusalem, reaffirmed "that any decisions or actions which purport to have altered the character, status and demographic composition of the holy city of Jerusalem, have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council". The defeated draft also stated that it "deeply regrets recent decisions regarding the status of Jerusalem", in an indirect reference to the recent decision of President Trump to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate his country's embassy to Jerusalem without mentioning his name.
The draft also stipulated that "no country should establish an embassy in Jerusalem", and that "status of Jerusalem must be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians". Jerusalem and its status, concluded the draft resolution, is a "final-status issue to be resolved through negotiations".
The defeated resolution can now be considered by the UN General Assembly presumably after the Christmas holidays under the so-called Uniting for Peace resolution that allows any resolution defeated by the veto of any permanent member of the council to be reconsidered by the UN General Assembly where the veto power of any of the big five powers would not stop the UN from adopting the necessary resolution on any situation threatening international or regional peace and security.
Washington must look awkward having isolated itself from the rest of the world on an issue which is so fundamental and critical to the peace process on the Palestinian conflict.
It must have crossed the mind of Trump that the entire international community could not be so wrong on a major issue of war and peace as to allow his country to stand alone against it.
There is still room for reasonable accommodation if the US president shows more goodwill and respect for global consensus in this regard.
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