How Israel votes at the UN

Why do Israel and the United States vote together?

Israel is in Asia but has never been admitted to the Asia-Pacific Group, one of the regional groups that decide who runs for UN seats. Since 2000 it has sat in the Western European and Others Group in New York, an arrangement made indefinite in 2004. Under the 2000 terms it was not to run for the Security Council through that group, but it later sought a seat for 2019-2020 and withdrew in May 2018. It does not belong to the Group of 77 (a coalition of developing countries), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation or the Arab Group, the blocs that table most Middle East texts.

The two countries vote together against the yearly resolutions on the Palestinians. On February 5, 2025 Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Israel "joins the United States and will not participate in the UNHRC" (the UN Human Rights Council). In 2025 Israel also joined the United States as the only no votes on 17 resolutions, on development, social policy, decolonization, outer space and other subjects. On the 43 votes where the United States was the only no, Israel voted yes on 3, abstained on 10 and did not vote on 30. Israel has not given a reason for those absences. Israel's agreement with the United Kingdom fell from 71% in 2024 to 49% in 2025. In 2025 Israel voted with the United States against many texts the United Kingdom supported, and the United Kingdom recognized the State of Palestine on September 21, 2025.

Why does the General Assembly vote on Israel and the Palestinians every year?

The General Assembly passes yearly resolutions on Israel and the Palestinians, on what the resolutions call the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Palestine refugees, UNRWA (the UN Palestinian refugee agency), Jerusalem and the Golan. Israel votes no on almost all, usually with the United States. After the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Assembly held emergency Gaza votes. A ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025. The Security Council endorsed a Gaza plan in resolution 2803.

Israel says the Assembly singles it out. UN Watch, a Geneva-based group that campaigns against what it sees as anti-Israel bias, counts 15 Assembly resolutions on Israel in 2025 against 11 on the rest of the world. Danny Danon, Israel's UN ambassador, said the June 2025 ceasefire resolution did not tie a ceasefire to the hostages' release. "This is not diplomacy. It is surrender," he said.

The Palestinian side says the resolutions follow from the occupation and from rights the Assembly set out. The Assembly created a committee on Palestinian rights in 1975. In July 2024 the International Court of Justice found Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "a decision of lies." Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, said on June 12, 2025: "This illegal, immoral situation cannot continue. It has to stop and stop immediately."

The June 2025 ceasefire resolution and the September 2025 vote endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution both passed by large majorities, with the United States voting no alongside Israel.

How does Israel vote on Ukraine?

Israel voted yes on the main General Assembly resolutions on Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and 2023. It then voted no on the February 2025 resolution alongside the United States and Russia. Jewish Insider reported, citing an unnamed Israeli official, that the Trump administration "insisted" on the no vote.

Israel voted yes on the December 2025 resolution on the return of Ukrainian children, with the United States, and yes on the February 24, 2026 resolution on a lasting peace in Ukraine, on which the United States abstained. Danny Danon, Israel's UN ambassador, told The Times of Israel after the February 24, 2026 vote that "the US and Israel each have their own calculations." Israel did not vote on the 2014 Crimea resolution.