US Risks Losing Sway in Mideast If Cuts Aid Over UN Jerusalem Vote - Israeli MP

Later in the day, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) will hold an emergency session to vote on a draft nonbinding resolution that urges Washington to reverse its controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The meeting comes four days after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to be canceled. On Wednesday, Trump said that he was carefully watching how each country votes in the United Nations, and could cut aid to those that vote against US interests.

"I believe that Trump’s decision to threaten members of the Security Council but also other states, which are involved on Jerusalem, first of all, will hurt the American interests because cutting aid to states voting against the resolution would mean that he would have to cut the US military aid to Egypt – one of the main US allies in the Middle East. If he does so, the US [side] will lose. It will lose its sphere of interest and it will lose stability in Egypt," Ksenia Svetlova said.

The lawmaker added that the development of the situation could harm the interests of Israel, as it could create additional tensions between the country and Arab states.

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"For Israel, we have already seen some backlash after Trump’s decision. We have experienced some turmoil in the West Bank, Israel’s south was shelled by rockets, there were demonstrations against the United States and Israel. If adopted, this resolution will bring more distrust between Israel and the Arab states and, perhaps, even hurt the process of rapprochement, which started a few years ago," she said.

Israel seized then Jordan-controlled East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1980, the Israeli parliament adopted the Jerusalem Law proclaiming the entire city Israel’s undivided capital. The international community does not recognize the annexation and believes the status of Jerusalem should be agreed with the Palestinians, who claim its eastern part as the capital of their future state.

On December 6, Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and instructed the US State Department to launch the process of moving the US Embassy, which is currently located in Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem. The step has prompted criticism from a number of states, first and foremost Middle Eastern states and Palestine, and triggered a wave of protests in the region.