UN General Assembly votes 129 to 11 on resolutions that leave out Jewish references to Jerusalem

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted 129 to 11 to pass the controversial “Jerusalem Resolution” which excludes Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and calls the site by its Muslim name, al-Haram al-Sharif.

Opponents of the resolution – which crops up annually – say that the Palestinians are using this to reframe Judaism's most holy site as exclusively Muslim, while also issuing statements of condemnation against Israel.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan said the UN resolutions are “completely detached from reality.” He referred to a terror attack last week in which a 26-year-old Israeli was killed by a Palestinian and no condemnation was issued by the UN.

“The Jewish blood has barely dried, and you have the audacity to single out Israel for violence in Jerusalem? Today, you will vote on three resolutions. Three resolutions that have one purpose and one purpose only: to demonize Israel,” he said.

“One of the most absurd demands in these resolutions is the call to maintain the status quo in Jerusalem, when in essence, the resolution does the exact opposite. By referring to the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount, only by its Muslim name, the resolution itself is changing the status quo," he said. “The hypocrisy of these resolutions is truly outrageous.”

The United States voted in opposition along with Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Hungary, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and of course Israel.

“It is morally, historically and politically wrong for members of this body to support language that denies” Jewish and Christian connections to the site.

But despite the unbalanced vote, fewer countries voted in favor of it this time around and more countries abstained. The General Assembly approved the resolution in 2018 in a vote of 148 to 11 with 14 countries abstaining. Then, all the European countries supported the text. This time the text was tweaked to mention Haram al-Sharif only once but nevertheless, 31 countries abstained including some European countries that changed their votes.

Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Malki welcomed the United Nations General Assembly vote especially at a time when Jerusalem “is being Judaized, its land stolen and its Palestinian residents displaced by force.”

“Occupied Jerusalem was and will remain an essential part of the land of the State of Palestine and its eternal capital,” he said.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, said the lopsided condemnation is being driven by “a powerful political agenda to demonize the Jewish state.”

“It’s absurd that in the year 2021, out of some 20 UN General Assembly resolutions that criticize countries, 70 percent are focused on one single country – Israel,” Neuer said. “The UN’s assault on Israel with a torrent of one-sided resolutions is surreal.”