The Trump administration pressured Israel to vote against a U.N. resolution on Monday affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity and condemning Russia’s invasion of the country on its three-year anniversary, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

“There was a lot of pressure from the U.S., they really insisted,” an Israeli official told Jewish Insider on Tuesday. “It came at all levels, at the U.N., in Washington and in Israel.” 

The resolution “is not our position,” the official added, and the vote, the first time Israel voted against Ukraine and with Russia since the beginning of the war, “wasn’t easy for us … We preferred to avoid this situation. We had no choice but to take a side.”

The official said that Israel “could have abstained, but I think because we asked for a lot from [the Trump administration] in recent weeks and days, the decision was to go all the way with them.”

The pro-Ukraine resolution passed with a majority of countries — 95 — supporting it. Thirteen countries opposed the resolution, including the U.S., Russia, North Korea, Hungary and others. Sixty-five abstained, including Argentina and Arab states. An American resolution calling to end the war without mentioning that Russia invaded Ukraine did not pass.

President Donald Trump says he is seeking a deal to end the war in Ukraine. He declared Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky a “dictator” last week and accused him of starting the war, which began with a Russian invasion in February 2022.

Jerusalem declared its support for Kyiv in the first days of the war and sent humanitarian aid, including the first field hospital in Ukraine. However, Israel drew criticism from Ukraine in the early months of the war for not sending military aid. Israel maintained that it could not be more active in backing Kyiv because Jerusalem needed to communicate with Moscow about its presence in Syria and to keep an open channel to the Jewish community in Russia. 

Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Kornichuk told JI that he was very disappointed in Israel’s vote.

“The resolution was blaming Russia for the war and supporting Ukrainian territorial integrity. Israel could have abstained, and it voted against it … It would be like if Ukraine would vote against returning the hostages to Israel,” Kornichuk said. “This is really harming our relations.”

Kornichuk did not accept the explanation that Israel needed to vote with the U.S., saying that its “neighbors Jordan and Egypt supported both the resolutions of the U.S. and Ukraine. Only Israel found itself in the position of voting with Russia and North Korea. That is sad.” 

Ukraine has not voted with Israel once in the last decade on U.N. resolutions targeting the Jewish state, and voted against Israel 75% of the time, abstaining the rest of the time, according to UN Watch.

Though Kornichuk would not accept Israel’s justifications, he provided a similar one for Ukraine when asked about its voting record, saying that “we have to vote like Europeans because we intend to be part of the EU.”  

The ambassador said that Kyiv may send a demarche, a diplomatic complaint letter, to Israel following the vote.

Kornichuk, who is responsible for Kyiv’s ties to the American Jewish community in addition to being ambassador to Israel, spoke to JI from Washington, where he is taking part in the AIPAC Congressional Summit this week. He said he plans to tell American Jewish leaders that Israel’s vote is unacceptable.

Kornichuk also denied a report that Ukraine and Israel reached a deal by which Israel would give Ukraine Russian weapons that it captured from Hamas and Hezbollah, and Kyiv would provide Jerusalem with intelligence about Russian missiles used by Iran. There have been several recent flights between the Nevatim Air Base in Israel and Rzeszow base in Poland, which is the logistics hub for aid to Ukraine.

The ambassador said Ukraine has asked for the weapons several times, but that Israel said they had been destroyed.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel proposed a bill to allow such weapons transfers when she was a lawmaker, but she can no longer propose legislation as a deputy minister.

Still, Kornichuk said, “you don’t need a law to pass through the Knesset, you just need a Defense Ministry decision.” 

“We have the same enemy. We have been asking our Israeli friends to work closely with us on anti-missile programs,” he said. “There are some-follow ups and interest on joint cooperation on anti-drone efforts, but not many on the others. I wish that we will work closer because this is a joint threat.” 

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, President Joe Biden’s pick for ambassador to the United Nations, pledged to stand behind Israel in her role at the U.N. during her Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday.

In response to a question from Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Greenfield addressed attacks on the Jewish state at the U.N.

“I look forward to standing with Israel, standing against the unfair targeting of Israel, the relentless resolutions that are proposed against Israel unfairly and… look forward to working closely with the Israeli embassy, with the Israeli ambassador to work to bolster Israel’s security and to expand economic opportunities for Israelis and Americans alike and widen the circle of peace,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “It goes without saying that Israel has no closer friend than the United States and I will reflect that in my actions at the United Nations.”

The former assistant secretary of state for African affairs also praised the recent normalization agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, describing them as opportunities for further progress both within the U.N. and around the globe.

“I see the Abraham Accords as offering us an opportunity to work in a different way with the countries who have recognized Israel… We need to push those countries to change their approach at the United Nations. If they’re going to recognize Israel in the Abraham Accords, they need to recognize Israel’s rights at the United Nations,” she said. “I intend to work closely with the Israeli ambassador, with my colleagues across the globe, because this is not just an issue in New York — but also pushing our colleagues to address these issues with their countries bilaterally so that we can get a better recognition of Israel in New York.”

She also condemned the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

“I find the actions and the approach that BDS has taken toward Israel unacceptable. It verges on antisemitism,” she said. “It is important that they not be allowed to have a voice at the United Nations.”

Thomas-Greenfield also said she plans to implement a robust approach to thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with the goal of engaging both U.S. allies and adversaries in countering the Iranian regime.

“We will be working with our allies, our friends, but we also have to work with other members of the Security Council to ensure that we hold Iran accountable,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “As the ambassador to the United Nations, if I’m confirmed, I will work across all of those areas to ensure that we get the support but [also] see where we can find common ground with the Russians and the Chinese to put more pressure on the Iranians to push them back into strict compliance.”

Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee did not raise the issue of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, a 2016 measure that declared that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories have “no legal validity” and constitute “a flagrant violation under international law.” In a rare step, the U.S. broke with Israel at the time and abstained in the Security Council vote on the resolution. In 2017, 78 senators cosponsored a resolution condemning the resolution.