Israeli PM thanks US ambassador to UN for veto

By Turgut Alp Boyraz

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday thanked the U.S. ambassador to the UN for vetoing a resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s decision on Jerusalem.

Netanyahu released a video on his Twitter account in which he thanked Haley for the U.S. veto of the Security Council resolution and her words of support.

“Thank you, Ambassador Haley. On [the Jewish holiday of] Hanukkah, you spoke like a Maccabi,” he said, likening her to a member of the Jewish community that is believed to have rebelled against the Romans.

“You lit a candle of truth. You dispel the darkness. One defeated the many. Truth defeated lies. Thank you, President Trump. Thank you, Nikki Haley.”

The U.S. vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that rejected the establishment of diplomatic facilities in the contested city of Jerusalem, breaking with the rest of the council.

The move comes less than two weeks after Washington moved to recognize the holy city as Israel's capital and begin the process to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv -- the city where all other nations house their main diplomatic facilities.

Fourteen council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-sponsored resolution that would have demanded Trump reverse course on the decision. The U.S. was the sole dissenting vote.