On Thursday, Israel joined 140 other UN member states voting in favor of a nonbinding resolution that calls for Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and withdraw its forces. "For the past year, Israel has stood alongside the people of Ukraine in solidarity both on the ground and here in the UN," Tel Aviv’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan said following the vote.
The resolution, drafted by Ukraine in consultation with its western allies, passed 141-7, with 32 abstentions. Belarus, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea, and Mali were the only member states to vote against the resolution.
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| Via EPA-EFE |
Israel’s condemnation of Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory happened just one day after Israeli occupation troops killed 11 Palestinians and injured over 100 in the West Bank city of Nablus and just hours after Israeli jets bombed a residential area in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, the US succeeded in stopping a vote at the UN Security Council against the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, with the help of the UAE and the Palestinian Authority (given the PA withdrew the bill under pressure).
In 2022 Israel was the target of more UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions than every other country combined.
India, representing one of the largest populations, explained its abstention as follows:
Excerpts from PR @ruchirakamboj’s explanation of vote at the #UNGA Emergency Special Session on #Ukraine today. pic.twitter.com/tUptpHj09j
— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) February 24, 2023
Moreover, from 2006 through 2022, the UN Human Rights Council adopted 99 resolutions against Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory and the crimes committed against Palestinian civilians living under apartheid.
A day ahead of the UN vote against Russia,
Venezuelan Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Joaquín Pérez Ayestarán, said
that all countries without exception "must stringently comply with the
United Nations Charter," in a veiled dig at the US and its allies, who
have historically violated the charter with total impunity.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that demands #Russia leave #Ukraine.
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) February 23, 2023
In favour: 141
Against: 7
Abstentions: 32 pic.twitter.com/WnEoRp94kx
Since the start of the war in Ukraine a year ago, Israel has tried to stay on Moscow’s good side due to their military cooperation in Syria. However, in recent months Kiev and Washington have turned up the pressure on Tel Aviv to align with its western sponsors.
