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Israel's envoy Danon calls UN vote an 'Empty victory for Palestinians'
Jonathan Gratch | 12/21/2017
Jonathan Gratch | 12/21/2017
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, was resolved in his dismissal of the general assembly's decisive vote on thursday of 128 to nine, rejecting the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"We don't need the acknowledgment of the general assembly. We are used to resolutions, it will not change the history,"Danon said in an exclusive interview with i24News following the UN vote.
Danon called it an "empty victory" that "will not support that Palestinians who live in Ramallah or Gaza."
The only way to move forward is to negotiate directly with Israel," Danon said resolutely.
Seven countries -- Guatemala, Honduras, Togo, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the Marshall Islands -- joined Israel and the United States in opposing the measure.
"I think the move of the president will change the history. Once the embassy will be in Jerusalem and other embassies will follow the US—that's meaningful," Danon told i24News.
Among the 35 countries that abstained were Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania and Rwanda.
Ukraine, which supported the draft resolution at the Security Council, was among 21 countries that did not turn up for the vote.
Danon considered the abstentions a victory, saying, "People are shocked to see so many countries deciding to abstain. In the past, they supported every resolution against Israel in the General Assembly."
Danon seemed to take comfort in a discrepancy between the way countries relate to Israel publicly in contrast with their private relations.
"I feel the gap in the private UN and public UN. Publicly they will vote against us, but privately, they will come to me and would like to work with Israel, to learn from Israel. There is a lot of appreciation, even admiration for Israel. My goal is to close that gap to convince those ambassadors to publicly support Israel."
Speaking to the UN General Assembly ahead of the vote, Israel's envoy to the United Nations vowed that Israel would never be "driven" from Jerusalem.
"No General Assembly resolution will ever drive us from Jerusalem," Ambassador Danny Danon said prior of the vote.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a UN vote on Thursday that rejected a US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but expressed satisfaction at the number of countries that didn't vote for the measure.
"Israel completely rejects this preposterous resolution. Jerusalem is our capital, always was, always will be," Netanyahu said in an English-language video posted online by his spokesman.
"But I do appreciate the fact that a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theatre of the absurd," said the Israeli leader.
"Especially I want to again express our thanks to President (Donald) Trump and Ambassador (Nikki) Haley for their stalwart defense of Israel and their stalwart defense of the truth."
Israel's Minister of Education Naftali Bennett thanked the cumulative 65 nations that did not vote in favor of the resolution (predominantly the result of abstaining or absence) and especially thanked the United States.
"A special thank you to our great friend, the United States, President Trump and his envoy, Nikki Haley, who boldly lead the way for everyone to realize what we Jews know for 3,000 yearsL Jerusalem has always been, and will always be, the capital of Israel."
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/inter...lls-un-vote-an-empty-victory-for-palestinians