Top Zelensky aide: Ukraine’s vote against Israel at UN ‘a grave mistake’

“We’re teaming up with Russia and Iran who are attacking us, and distancing ourselves from Israel — which we want as an ally.”

By World Israel News Staff

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s personal aide, Alexey Arestovych, said on Sunday that Ukraine’s decision to vote in favor of an anti-Israel resolution two days earlier was “a grave mistake.”

The senior aide said in a livestream that “Ukraine’s foreign ministry’s position was illogical and unacceptable.”

“We’re teaming up with Russia and Iran who are attacking us, and distancing ourselves from Israel — which we want as an ally,” Aristovich said.

“Ukraine must at least abstain from such votes,” he added.

The resolution, which passed a key UN committee by a margin of 98 to 17 with 52 abstentions, accused Israel of denying Palestinian Arabs the right to self-determination, negated Israel’s historical connection to the Temple Mount, and urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague to render an opinion against Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria.

The draft resolution, entitled “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories,” claims Israel has violated ‘Palestinian rights’ to self-determination “from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the holy city of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures.”

It would ask the court for an opinion on how these Israeli policies and practices “affect the legal status of the occupation, and what are the legal consequences that arise for all states and the United Nations from this status.”

The call for a new opinion was one of six Palestinian-related resolutions approved by the committee on Friday.

The court’s opinions are non-binding.

The countries that voted with Israel in opposing the resolution were Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Liberia, Lithuania, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the United States.

The United Kingdom and France abstained.

Along with Ukraine, all of the Arab states, including Israel’s new allies Bahrain and UAE, approved the anti-Israel measure. Russia also voted in favor.

Israel’s Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky slammed Kyiv for its support of the resolution.

“Ukraine’s support of the UN resolution ‘Israeli Practices’, denying Jewish ties to Temple Mount and calling for ICJ advisory opinion is extremely disappointing. Supporting anti Israeli initiatives in the UN doesn’t help to build trust between Israel and Ukraine,” Brodsky tweeted.

Ukraine has repeatedly censured Israel for not providing it with weapons and missile defense systems, including the Iron Dome. Jerusalem has refrained from doing so because it coordinates with Russia before carrying out aerial attacks against Iranian targets in Syria.

The Ukrainian government has thus far refused Israeli offers for a civilian missile alert warning system.