U.S. veto on Jerusalem to increase "Washington's isolation": AL chief

CAIRO, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) condemned on Tuesday the recent U.S. veto of a UN Security Council resolution rejecting President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying the veto will increase Washington's isolation.

"The United States veto of a UN Security Council resolution to protect the status of Jerusalem will increase Washington's isolation," said AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

Proposed by Egypt, the vetoed UN resolution was meant to invalidate the recent U.S. decision to recognize the disputed holy city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, amid Arab and Islamic massive uproar.

Although vetoed and blocked by the United States on Monday, the draft resolution was backed by all 14 other members of the UN Security Council.

"Using the veto against all 14 other votes shows U.S. flagrant defiance of clear and maybe rare of international consensus," chief of the pan-Arab body continued, warning that "the U.S. policy causes further isolation of the United States."

Trump's controversial decision on Jerusalem, made on Dec. 6, was met by regional and international rejection, condemnation and warning of its serious repercussions on peace, security and stability in the Middle East region as well as the chances for a settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict emerged since the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the Western-backed creation of Israel in 1948.

Israel is blamed by the international community for the deadlock of the peace process due to its settlement expansion policy, which is generally rejected even by its strongest ally, the United States.

The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital in the light of the UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders. Enditem