02 Jan 2021; MEMO: The administration of outgoing US President Donald Trump voted against the United Nations (UN) budget over issues related to Israel and Iran, AFP reported.
Only Israel followed in the footsteps of the US regarding the vote, while 167 countries voted in favour of the General Assembly's approval of the $3.231 billion UN budget for 2021.
US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft rejected the budget because it would fund a 20th anniversary event for the 2001 UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.
In solidarity with Israel, the US walked out of the conference over what it said, according to AFP, was a fixation by Muslim-majority countries against the Jewish state.
Craft told the General Assembly that the US: "Called for this vote to make clear that we stand by our principles, stand up for what is right and never accept consensus for consensus's sake."
She added: "Twenty years on, there remains nothing about the Durban Declaration to celebrate or to endorse. It is poisoned by anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias."
UN states separately approved a resolution, passed 106-14 with 44 abstentions, backing the follow-up efforts on the Durban conference. US and Israel, along with some Western powers including the UK, France and Germany, voted against it.
According to AFP, the US envoy also complained that the UN members did not support its decision to impose sanctions on Iran after Trump abandoned the nuclear deal reached during Barak Obama's administration.
"We don't find comfort based on the number of nations voting with us, particularly when the majority have found themselves in an uncomfortable position of underwriting terrorism, chaos and conflict," Craft expressed, referring to the rejection of the members of the international community to support sanctions on Iran.
However, she affirmed the US vote would not change its UN contribution, including 25 per cent of peacekeeping expenditures and some $9 billion a year in UN-channelled humanitarian relief.
AFP reported that US President-elect Joe Biden is expected to seek a more cooperative relationship with the UN, including stopping a US exit from the World Health Organisation, which Trump blamed for not doing more to stop COVID-19.
