US bullies Malawi to vote ‘Jerusalem as capital of Israel’

Malawi refused to vote against United States of America’s declaration of Jerusalem as capital of Israel after President Donald Trump warned that he would cut aid.

Malawi and other United Nations (UN) members on Thursday voted on the status of Jerusalem following Trump administration’s decision to recognise the city as the Israeli capital and move its embassy to the city.

Members were voting in favour or against a UN resolution that says the final status of Jerusalem will be settled by negotiations involving Palestine and Israel – both countries consider Jerusalem their capital city.

At the end, 128 countries voted in favour of the resolution thus rejecting Trump’s decision, nine countries refused to condemn the United States as they voted against the resolution while 35 abstained from the vote.

Malawi was one of the countries that abstained from the vote. Others include Uganda, Argentina and Lesotho.

They were all applauded by US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley on Twitter.

“We appreciate these countries for not falling to the irresponsible ways of the @UN,” tweeted Haley of how countries had voted.

Before the vote, Haley had warned that the United States will be taking names of countries that will not support its decision on Jerusalem saying the US is tired of being taken for granted.

She said America expected those that receives aid from it to support its decision.

“At the UN we’re always asked to do more & give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American people, about where to locate our embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us. On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names,” she warned in a tweet on Tuesday.

Her warning was echoed by Trump who said the US will cut aid to countries that would condemn his decision.

“They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” he said.

Countries that rebuffed the US during the vote include Germany, United Kingdom France, Mozambique and Egypt.

The UN resolution demands that all countries comply with Security Council resolutions on the status of Jerusalem and not to recognise any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions.

It is however non-binding and does not carry the force of international law.