Axios: Zelensky unsuccessfully spoke on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, they had security differences

On December 30, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, had an unsuccessful telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of Israel Binmian Netanyahu, who returned to power in November 2022.

The publication Axios, citing sources, writes that they had disagreements on the security issue.

It was reported on Zelenskyʼs Twitter that the leaders of the countries talked about bilateral cooperation in the security sphere, interaction on international platforms, and also touched on the topic of the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula.

However, the sources said that Netanyahu asked Zelenskyi for Ukraine to vote against the resolution of the UN General Assembly, which was considered on Friday, December 30. It provides for an appeal to the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague for an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israelʼs occupation of the Palestinian territories on the West Bank of the Jordan River and in the Gaza Strip.

Ukraine supported this resolution when it was considered in the UN committee, allegedly because of Israelʼs refusal to provide air defense systems. After that, the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of Ukraine for a harsh conversation.

In his conversation with Zelenskyi, Netanyahu wanted Ukraine to change its position or at least refrain. Zelensky allegedly said that in return he wanted to hear the new Israeli governmentʼs willingness to change its approach to providing military aid. Netanyahu did not say anything concrete, so Zelensky decided that Ukraine would not participate in the vote at all. Axios calls the move an attempt to give Netanyahu a chance.

In Israel, they privately say that they are disappointed with this position of Ukraine.

The resolution without Ukraine was supported by 87 countries. 26 countries opposed it, including Great Britain, USA, Australia, Germany and Austria.

• Israel is not yet officially ready to provide air defense systems to Ukraine, however, according to the media, it has allowed Western countries to supply Ukraine with weapons with Israeli components.
• In November 2022, one of the Israeli state media reported that the country threatened to supply ballistic missiles to Ukraine if Russia uses Iranian missiles in the war.