Trump Threatens To Cut Aid To Countries Opposing Jerusalem Move

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that on Thursday vote in favor of a draft United Nations resolution against his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars,” the American leader said, “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.” The rare emergency session of the General Assembly was called at the behest of Arab and Muslim states in the wake of Washington’s veto of a similar resolution in the Security Council earlier this week. Despite efforts by the White House to torpedo the latest initiative, the measure is expected to pass easily because of the Palestinian automatic majority in the 193-member body. Nevertheless, Israeli missions abroad have been directed to actively lobby host governments to oppose the motion or, at the very least, to not speak on the issue at the meeting. President Trump’s special envoy to the peace process, Jason Greenblatt, reportedly on Wednesday met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to coordinate a unified response to the vote.