UN General Assembly overwhelmingly votes to make Jerusalem's Old City free of all Jews

The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on Wednesday calling on the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw completely from Judea and Samaria, commonly referred to as the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip within one year. 

That would mean the evacuation of all Jewish communities beyond the 1949 armistice line, including Jerusalem’s Old City. In effect, it would require that area to be free of all Jews, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.  

The resolution passed by a vote of 124-14 with 43 abstentions. It is meant to give force to a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which declared it illegal for any Israeli presence in any area over the 1949 armistice line.

The text of the resolution doesn’t mention Israeli security concerns, its historic ties to the lands or Hamas’s terror attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.

The vote followed a day of debate on Tuesday. Those voting against the resolution were: Argentina, Czechia, Fiji, Hungary, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, Tuvalu, the United States and Israel. Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Ukraine and Australia were among the 43 abstentions, according to the JNS.

While General Assembly resolutions have no legal force, its passage is expected to be used in international courts to seek additional action against Israel.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, called it “a shameful decision that backs the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic terrorism,” and said that the General Assembly “continues to dance to the music of the Palestinian Authority, which backs the Hamas murderers.”