Occupied Jerusalem: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Saturday said he would oppose a Unesco resolution condemning Israel’s actions in occupied East Jerusalem.
On Friday, Renzi strongly criticised the resolution, saying that Rome — which had abstained in the vote — would now oppose it.
“It is incomprehensible and unacceptable, a mistake. I specifically asked diplomats involved in such cases yesterday (Thursday) not to continue like this — we cannot deny reality,” Renzi told an Italian radio station.
“If we have to break European ranks on this issue, then so be it,” Renzi said.
Tuesday’s Unesco resolution on “occupied Palestine” was endorsed by the agency’s executive board at its headquarters in Paris, after being approved at the committee stage last week.
Israel wants all of occupied Jerusalem as its undivided capital, but the Palestinians want the eastern sector as capital of their future state.
Israel was furious that the resolution referred to the Old City site in occupied Jerusalem by its Muslim name Al Haram Al Sharif.
