Sometimes even concrete proof isn’t enough to sway people determined not to believe, but Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, made a concerted effort to try — even bringing along an archaeological artifact, an ancient 2,000-year-old coin with Hebrew lettering, as part of a “show and tell” demonstration designed to explain the true depth of the Jewish connection to Jerusalem. It didn’t matter.
The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday in an emergency special session to pass the resolution, 128-9 with 35 abstentions, denouncing U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The resolution expresses “deep regret at recent decisions regarding Jerusalem,” and calls on “all States to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem.”
Prior to the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned that “America will put our embassy in Jerusalem. That is what the American people want us to do, and it is the right thing to do. No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that.”
Immediately following, the U.S. Ambassador was Israel’s own representative to the body that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to several hours earlier as the “House of Lies.”
Addressing the General Assembly, Ambassador Danny Danon harshly criticized the countries supporting the resolution at the urging of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
“Those who support today’s resolution are like puppets pulled by the strings of the Palestinian puppet masters,” said Ambassador Danon. “You are like marionettes forced to dance while the Palestinian leadership looks on with glee.”
Danon noted the recent rocket attacks from Gaza and went on to say that “violence and terror must never be tolerated.” He pointed out that “if this body were really united for peace, it would pass a resolution condemning Palestinian violence.”
Earlier in his address, Ambassador Danon displayed a coin from the year 67 CE that was minted during the Jewish revolt against the Romans. Replicas of the coin had been distributed to the UN ambassadors before the vote.
“On this coin is written ‘Freedom of Zion,’ Danon said. “It proves the ancient connection of Jews to Jerusalem. No UNESCO declaration, no empty speeches, no General Assembly resolution will ever drive us from Jerusalem.”