The U.S. vetoed a resolution calling for a reversal of the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital:

The United States blocked a Security Council resolution Monday at the United Nations that would have rejected President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s vote marked the Trump administration’s first Security Council veto. All 14 other members supported the resolution, underscoring the U.S. isolation on the issue.

Haley said she cast the veto “in defense of American sovereignty and in defense of America’s role in the Middle East peace process.”

The Security Council vote is notable for its implicit rebuke of a permanent member’s action. It is a measure of how overwhelming the international consensus against the U.S. position is, and it is a sign of how inept the administration’s diplomacy continues to be. The U.S. exercised its veto to avoid the spectacle of a critical resolution being passed with the support of all the other members. It was obviously not because of any concern for an American role in whatever remained of the “peace process” that the recognition of Jerusalem just torpedoed. If Trump or Haley were concerned with preserving that role, the decision to recognize would never have happened. Using the veto in this way is an embarrassment, since it is being used in support of a bad decision that will likely continue to cause the U.S. headaches for years to come.