United States history of veto at U.N. Security Council

CAIRO – 19 December 2017: The United States used its veto right at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the first time in six years on Monday against an Egyptian-drafted resolution over U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

A resolution was vetoed by the U.S. in 2011 that affirmed that Israel is breaching former U.N. resolutions on Palestinian territories by building settlements in the occupied lands. Throughout its time at the U.N., the U.S. has vetoed 80 resolutions, 14 of which were regarding Palestinian territories.

The first time the U.S. used its veto power was in 1975 to veto six resolutions. The first was condemning South Africa’s occupation of Namibia, which gained its independence in 1990. That resolution was also vetoed by the United Kingdom and France on June 6, 1975.

On August 8, 1975, the United States vetoed two resolutions in favor of admitting new U.N. members. These were the Republic of South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The former was a state governing the southern half of the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975 – the duration of the Vietnam War. The latter was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976 governing North Vietnam during the war.

The Republic of South Vietnam was allied with the United States during the war with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The United States again vetoed two other resolutions on admitting both states on September 29, 1975.

On December 5, 1975, the United States supported Israel in the Security Council for the first time, as it vetoed a resolution condemning Israel’s violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, warning of taking appropriate measures if Israel does not abide by previous decisions of the Security Council.

On January 23, 1976, the U.S. vetoed for the first time a resolution in favor of the Palestinian people. The resolution stated that the Security Council affirms “(a) The Palestinian people should be enabled to exercise its inalienable national right of self-determination, including the right to establish an independent state in Palestine in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations; (b) The right of Palestinian refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors to do so and the right of those choosing not to return to receive compensation for their property; (c) That Israel should withdraw from all the Arab territories occupied since June 1967.”