Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and asked him to vote against the United Nations General Assembly resolution asking the International Court of Justice to issue an opinion on the legal implications of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including Israel’s “annexation” of territories and the “legal status of the occupation,” Axios first reported.
Ukraine did not attend the vote which took place late on Friday, despite voting in favor of the same resolution in committee last month. During the conversation Netanyahu would not commit to providing Ukraine with anti-missile defense systems, which did not satisfy Zelenskyy, Axios reported, citing an unnamed Ukrainian official. Because of this, Zelenskyy ordered his envoy to not attend the vote rather than abstain or vote against it.
The resolution passed with 87 votes in favor to 26 against, with 53 abstentions. Britain, Germany and the United States were among those who voted against, while Denmark, France, Japan and Sweden abstained. All of the Arab states, including those who have recently embraced Israel as an ally, voted in favor.
In a statement issued on Saturday night, Netanyahu said that the resolution does not “obligate” Israel and that “just like the hundreds of distorted UN General Assembly resolutions against Israel over the years, today’s disgraceful resolution will not obligate the Government of Israel. The Jewish people is not occupying its land and is not occupying its eternal capital Jerusalem. No UN resolution can distort this historical truth.”