Israel PM calls UN as ‘house of lies’ before Jerusalem vote

Monitoring Desk

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday described the UN as a “house of lies” hours ahead of a planned UN General Assembly vote on U.S. President Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“It took 70 years for the U.S. to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and it will take years more for the UN to recognize it,” Netanyahu said during a visit to southern Israel.

“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, whether the UN recognizes it or not,” he added. “Israel rejects this vote out of hand even before it passes.”

Netanyahu went on to assert that the Jewish state would “continue to build in Jerusalem”.

He added: “The embassies of foreign nations, primarily the U.S., are going to move to Jerusalem.”

Later Thursday, the UN’s 193-member General Ass-embly is expected to vote on a proposed resolution rejecting Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to recognize the city as Israel’s capital — a move that has drawn condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world.

Unlike the UN’s 15-member Security Council, the U.S. does not have veto po-wer in the General Assembly.

International law views the West Bank — including East Jerusalem — as “occupied territory” and considers all Jewish settlement building on the land to be illegal.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem might eventually serve as the capital of an independent state of Palestine.