Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this evening that "Israel completely rejects the senseless resolution", after The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a document rejecting US President Donald Trump's recognition that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
"Jerusalem is our capital and always will be. But I respect the fact that a growing number of countries refuse to participate in that theater of the absurd," Netanyahu said in a video posted on his Facebook account.
128 countries voted for the resolution, nine were against, and 35 abstained.
Israeli officials said Netanyahu had recently visited some of those abstention countries. Israel also thanked Trump for his unequivocal stance on Jerusalem and those who voted against like Israel, for voting for the truth, as it was said.
"I respect that and I especially want to express again our gratitude to President Trump and (US) Ambassador Nikki Haley for their defense of Israel and their defense of the truth," Netanyahu added.
The Israeli minister in charge of public security, Gilad Erdan, spoke against the UN decision to ignore warnings from Israel and the US not to adopt the resolution, which is otherwise non-binding.
"Our response to Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) and his supporters in the UN against Israel and the US will be to strengthen sovereignty and security in all parts of Jerusalem and build there," he said, adding that the Palestinians threaten, the countries vote, and the Israelis will build and strengthen , Israeli media reported.
Islamic extremist Hamas welcomed the resolution declaring the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital null and void.
Spokesman Fawzi Barhum called the resolution "a step in the right direction and a blow to Trump's announcement," AP reported. He said the resolution emphasized the Palestinian right to the Holy City.
Hamas otherwise aspires to establish a state in the entire historical territory of Palestine, including today's territory of Israel.
The Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the secular Fatah, intends to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Abbas' adviser Nabil Abu Rudayneh thanked the countries that voted for the UN resolution despite all the pressure.
He was referring to Trump's threat to suspend US aid to countries that supported the resolution.
A statement carried by the official Wafa news agency (WAFA) said the vote reflected support for the Palestinians in the international community.
Rudejne said that the Palestinians will continue their efforts in international forums to help create the state of Palestine.
Jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict between the two nations. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal indivisible capital, while the Palestinians in the eastern part of that city, which Israel annexed after occupying it in the 1967 war, declare it the seat of their future independent state.
It contains some of the holiest places of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
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