Haley: US will veto UN resolutions that condemn Israel

US ambassador says Trump would have vetoed resolution in 2016 that called settlement building a 'flagrant violation' of international law

Nikki Haley: The US will not make the same mistake again (screengrab)

Monday 18 December 2017

The United States has said it will not "make the same mistake again" by allowing the UN to pass resolutions critical of Israel, and would exercise its veto on any future condemnation of Israel's illegal settlement building.

In a meeting of the UN security council on Monday, ambassador Nikki Haley said the new administration of Donald Trump would have voted against resolution 2334, passed in December 2016.

The resolution stated that Israel's settlement building constituted a "flagrant violation" of international law and had "no legal validity".

It is a new administration. Given the chance to vote again we would exercise a veto power.

- Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN

John Kerry, the US secretary of state under Barack Obama, abstained from using its veto rights in the original vote, overturning a history of US support for Israel and allowing the resolution to pass.

Haley said on Monday: "In truth, 2334 was an impediment to peace. The security council put negotiations further out of reach by injecting itself in the process."

"In December 2016, the US elected to abstain. Now it is a new administration. Given the chance to vote again we would exercise a veto power.

"The US will not make that mistake again."

Haley was speaking before the UNSC was due to vote on a draft resolution that called for the condemnation of Trump's move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Haley said the US had "every right to do so", but said she would not comment on that decision in the meeting.

She said the UN had imperilled the peace process by "consistently singling Israel out for condemnation".

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The 42 times the US has used its veto to protect Israel

Nikolay Mladenov, the UN's special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process, had earlier told the meeting that the UN maintains the view that Jerusalem was a "final status issue" to be decided by both sides of the conflict.

The final status issue of Jerusalem has long been the target of the US veto.

The United States is one of five permanent members of the Security Council, the others being Russia, China, the UK and France, with vetoing powers and has used them 42 times in support of Israel in the past.