The U.N. General Assembly has voted 128-9 with 35 abstentions to declare President Donald Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital "null and void."
Thursday's vote, while a victory for the Palestinians, was significantly lower than its supporters had hoped for, with many forecasting at least 150 "yes" votes. It is noteworthy that 21 countries were absent.
In that sense, it was a victory for the United States, with Trump's threat to cut off U.S. funding to countries that oppose his decision having an impact.
Trump said he would be watching very closely at which members of the General Assembly vote for the resolution and which vote against it.
The resolution states that any decision to change the status of Jerusalem is null and void, has no legal effect, and that it must be rescinded. It's also calling on member countries not to set up diplomatic missions in Jerusalem.
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told an emergency meeting of the assembly that "no vote in the United Nations will make any difference" on the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, which will go ahead because "it is the right thing to do."
She said "the United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very right of exercising our right as a sovereign nation."
"We will remember it when we are called upon once again to make the world's largest contribution to the United Nations," she said. "And we will remember when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit."
Haley said Thursday's vote "will make a difference on how Americans look at the U.N. and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the U.N., and this vote will be remembered."
Israel's prime minister says he completely rejects the "preposterous" U.N. resolution.
Benjamin Netanyahu says in a video posted to Facebook that Jerusalem "always was, always will be" Israel's capital. He also says he appreciates that "a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theater of the absurd."
Netanyahu thanked President Trump for his "stalwart defense of Israel."Trump's declaration on Dec. 6 departed from decades of U.S. policy, and international consensus, that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided through negotiations.
Jerusalem lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel sees the city as its undivided capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, home to key Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy sites, as their capital.
(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report)
