The United Nations General Assembly passed six anti-Israel resolutions on Thursday, the day after the 70th anniversary of its vote on the Partition Plan, calling for a Jewish and Arab state side by side and paving the way for Israel’s declaration of independence.
One of the votes denying Israeli ties to Jerusalem passed by an overwhelming 151 in favor and six against, with nine abstentions.
“Any actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever,” the resolution stated.
Only Canada, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, the United States and Israel itself voted against the resolution.
The nine countries who abstained were Australia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Honduras, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, South Sudan and Togo.
The wording is similar to similar resolutions passed in 2015 and 2016 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO), including the omission of the title “Temple Mount,” using instead the Arabic term for the site, “Haram al-Sharif.”
But while UNESCO votes are taken by small committees and are not binding, the votes on Thursday included all U.N. member states. In fact, all of the European Union members voted against Israel including countries that abstained or opposed the same text at UNESCO.
“The E.U. stresses the need for language on the holy sites of Jerusalem to reflect the importance and historical significance of the holy sites for the three monotheistic religions,” the Estonian representative said. “The future choice of language may effect the E.U.’s collective support for the resolution.”
The General Assembly also passed a resolution put forth by Syria condemning Israel’s control over the Golan Heights, calling the area Syrian territory and stating that Israeli “occupation” is a “a stumbling block in the way of achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.” The Syrian regime is accused of using chemical weapons against its own citizens while Israel was treating the wounded of that conflict who managed to cross its borders.
U.N. bodies have adopted 18 resolutions against Israel so far this year and the General Assembly is expected to approve another 10 anti-Israel resolutions before the end of the year.