Ireland’s relationship with the US is about to get very strained.
Earlier today, the UN General Assembly has voted 128 to 9 to declare US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “null and void”, with 35 others abstaining and a further 21 countries not casting a vote.
Initially Ireland had not announced as to how they had voted, perhaps in reaction to US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley reported (via The Guardian) to have said: “The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those who voted against us.”
She then took to Twitter to effectively repeat the statement:
At the UN we're always asked to do more & give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt 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. pic.twitter.com/ZsusB8Hqt4
— Archive: Ambassador Nikki Haley (@AmbNikkiHaley) December 19, 2017
In a statement this evening (via the Evening Echo), the Department of Foreign Affairs said: “Ireland voted today in favour of a resolution in the UN General Assembly on Jerusalem. This vote was in line with our established position on this issue. The vast majority of our EU partners voted in the same way.
“It has been the united position of the international community for decades, as set out in UN Security Council Resolutions, that a resolution of the Middle East conflict will include agreement for Jerusalem to be the capital of both Israel and the future state of Palestine.
“Ireland and the US share many core values, but there are occasionally issues on which we have different views. The status of Jerusalem is one such issue.
“We have no difficulty with our partners and friends having strong views and expressing them robustly, notwithstanding the fact that we may take a different view, as we do in this case.”
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