United Nations Security Council Resolution 478
United Nations Security Council resolution
United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, adopted on 20 August 1980, is the last of seven UNSC resolutions condemning Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem. UNSC res 478 notes Israel's non-compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 476 and condemned Israel's 1980 Jerusalem Law which declared Jerusalem to be Israel's "complete and united" capital, as a violation of international law. The resolution states that the council will not recognize this law, and calls on member states to accept the decision of the council. This resolution also calls upon member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city. The UNSC resolutions followed two General Assembly resolutions regarding Israel's actions in East Jerusalem.
The resolution was passed with 14 votes to none against, with the United States abstaining.
Reception and criticism
Israel categorically rejected the resolution and its Foreign Ministry announced: "It will not undermine the status of Jerusalem as the capital of a sovereign Israel and as a united city which will never again be torn apart."
In remarks made to the council, then-U.S. Secretary of State Edmund Muskie said: "The question of Jerusalem must be addressed in the context of negotiations for a comprehensive, just and lasting Middle East peace."
The draft resolution before us today is illustrative of a preoccupation which has produced this series of unbalanced and unrealistic texts on Middle East issues. It fails to serve the goal of all faiths that look upon Jerusalem as holy. We must share a common vision of that ancient city's future—an undivided Jerusalem, with free access to the Holy Places for people of all faiths.
With respect to the section of the draft resolution relating to the transfer of embassies from Jerusalem, the Secretary of State said that the resolution was "fundamentally flawed" and that the U.S. considered that the instruction that states remove their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem, "not binding" and "without force", and that "we reject it as a disruptive attempt to dictate to other nations." He also said that the United States would forcefully resist any attempt to impose sanctions on Israel under Chapter VII of the Charter.
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