The UN has failed, its head needs to resign - Ambassador Gilad Erdan

The United Nations has failed at its mandate, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said, speaking at the Jerusalem Post conference “The Second Front” on Monday, adding that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres should resign.

“The Jewish people are facing a wave of hatred not seen in almost 80 years,” Erdan noted. “And nowhere is this wave of Jew-hatred clearer than at the United Nations.”

“The UN was founded on the ashes of the Holocaust to prevent atrocities,” he emphasized. “It is looked at as the bastion of civilization, a moral compass that all nations should follow. Sadly, the UN has failed spectacularly to carry out its mandate.”

According to Erdan, the lack of condemnation by UN bodies and officials in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre underscored the systemic bias against Israel throughout the organization.

“The very fact that the leader of this organization, the secretary-general himself, expressed an understanding for Hamas terror proves the illegitimacy of the UN,” the ambassador noted. “Terror is terror. There is never a justification for murdering innocent civilians in their homes.”

Erdan highlighted how the positions about Israel expressed by UN bodies or officials have often fueled antisemitism across the globe.

“The lies that UN bodies and officials spread about Israel make their way around the world before the truth can even get its shoes on,” he said. “These lies encourage antisemitism.”

Erdan also accused Guterres himself of making remarks showing “understanding for terror.” 

“He must resign,” Erdan said.

“I will never stop fighting for the truth in the United Nations: none of us should,” the ambassador concluded. “We must work together to expose the rampant hypocrisy and double standards that exist in this body and that are influencing the next generation.”