By Berl Falbaum
The idiom “words speak for themselves” never was more true than when Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, recently delivered a blistering attack on the organization in the General Assembly.
His verbal attack does not need any amplification, clarification, interpretation, or explanation. Writing that he did not mince any words is one of the greatest understatements ever voiced in political journalism.
His words did not just speak. They scorned, blasted, demeaned, chastised, accused, scolded, condemned ...
Even without a Google search, I feel safe to observe that such an attack has never been heard in the diplomatic or political world.
Erdan took on the world’s double-standard, accusing it of ignoring humanitarian crises in Sudan, Myanmar, Yemen, Pakistan, bewailed the antisemitism on campuses among students and faculty and the hatred directed at Israel.
And he laid it all—all of it—at the feet of the United Nations whose demise he predicted in his speech. Stating the U.N. makes him want to “vomit” and “disgusts” him—yes, he said that—here is some of his fiery rhetoric. As stated above, it speaks for itself.
— “The U.N. is fueled by nothing other than political interests not by the U.N. Charter, not by morality.”
— “... the U.N. is again seeking to reward the perpetrators of the horrors.”
— “The U.N. couldn’t care less about Israel, to hell with our safety, to hell with our future, and the hell with our hostages.”
— “To this day you have not even condemned Hamas, not even once. To this day, not a single U.N. initiative has been taken for the sake of the Israeli hostages. Instead, this body has focused only on recognizing a Palestinian terror state, an entity fueled by Jewish genocide, by terror, by Nazi-like incitement.”
— “You have told Hamas that terror pays off. You have done nothing for the victims.”
— “The U.N. is the main impediment to peace. You, most of you, [Y]ou are a dream come true for every Palestinian terrorist who seeks to destroy Israel through diplomatic terror ...”
— “You should be ashamed of yourself, those who support a unilateral forced Palestinian terror state.”
— “This body reeks of antisemitism. It’s everywhere. The U.N. cares nothing for Israeli blood, nothing, zero. It is a collaborator of the Nazis of our day, working to assure Hamas’s survival and even rewards them for murder and rape. I have no words.”
— “You are encouraging their racism and antisemitism.”
— “This brainwashing did not happen overnight. It was the result of years of incitement and delegitimization here, here at the U.N. and you know who it is, who it is that set the stage for this blatant anti-Semitism —the U.N., the General Assembly. The anti-Israel vitriol spread here by this organization is what sparked what we are seeing today on college campuses…you are emboldening anti-Semites and terrorists alike.”
— “It is because of you mobs think that attacking Jews is acceptable.”
— “Look at the generations you have indoctrinated into antisemitism.”
— “There is no freedom to incite murder and violence; there is no liberty to attack Jewish students.”
— “Today is the ninth General Assembly meeting held on Gaza since Hamas’s massacre. Ninth. Not one of the meetings focused on condemning Hamas or releasing the hostages; not even one. I am disgusted by this institution.”
— “You are not interested in criticizing rogue states; you are interested only in smearing the Jewish state.”
— “Don’t you see how much of a joke the U.N. has become, a sick joke that cares nothing for the lives of civilians around the world, that cares nothing for wars being fought, that cares nothing for death, destruction and suffering. The only thing the U.N. cares about is bashing the Jewish state.”
— “Today the U.N. is a haven for terrorists, for tyrants, for dictators, a laundromat to whitewash their crimes while shifting the focus on the vibrant democracy of Israel. The root of all the U.N. evil is in this very room—the General Assembly.”
— “The clock is ticking and soon the world will wake up and see the disaster the U.N. has become. In the future ... students will study the fall of the U.N. They will learn of this organization’s moral
bankruptcy and blindness. They will be taught that your indifference and hypocrisy is what brought the U.N. crashing down.
“But this is also what will prompt the establishment of a new world institution, a force for good, one with a strong moral compass, democratic values, a body that will refuse to give dictators a free pass and terrorists a lifeline.
“Mark my words, the U.N.’s days are numbered.”
Setting aside Erdan’s prediction of U.N.’s demise, he is, of course, correct in U.N.’s antisemitism. It has been a cesspool of anti-Israel feelings for years, reaching its peak in 1975 when it adopted a resolution equating Zionism with racism. The resolution was revoked in 1991, but the damage was done, and revocation was meaningless since its politics did not change.
In 2022, the U.N. adopted 15 anti-Israel resolutions, two more critical resolutions than for all the other 193 countries in the general assembly—combined.
The question raised by Erdan’s speech: Should he have been so “aggressive” or might he have tempered his language?
In strategic sessions Israel probably decided to let Erdan proceed—let it all hang out, so to speak—because, unfortunately, it has nothing to lose in the U.N.
And that is the saddest moral of this story.
————————
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books.
The idiom “words speak for themselves” never was more true than when Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, recently delivered a blistering attack on the organization in the General Assembly.
His verbal attack does not need any amplification, clarification, interpretation, or explanation. Writing that he did not mince any words is one of the greatest understatements ever voiced in political journalism.
His words did not just speak. They scorned, blasted, demeaned, chastised, accused, scolded, condemned ...
Even without a Google search, I feel safe to observe that such an attack has never been heard in the diplomatic or political world.
Erdan took on the world’s double-standard, accusing it of ignoring humanitarian crises in Sudan, Myanmar, Yemen, Pakistan, bewailed the antisemitism on campuses among students and faculty and the hatred directed at Israel.
And he laid it all—all of it—at the feet of the United Nations whose demise he predicted in his speech. Stating the U.N. makes him want to “vomit” and “disgusts” him—yes, he said that—here is some of his fiery rhetoric. As stated above, it speaks for itself.
— “The U.N. is fueled by nothing other than political interests not by the U.N. Charter, not by morality.”
— “... the U.N. is again seeking to reward the perpetrators of the horrors.”
— “The U.N. couldn’t care less about Israel, to hell with our safety, to hell with our future, and the hell with our hostages.”
— “To this day you have not even condemned Hamas, not even once. To this day, not a single U.N. initiative has been taken for the sake of the Israeli hostages. Instead, this body has focused only on recognizing a Palestinian terror state, an entity fueled by Jewish genocide, by terror, by Nazi-like incitement.”
— “You have told Hamas that terror pays off. You have done nothing for the victims.”
— “The U.N. is the main impediment to peace. You, most of you, [Y]ou are a dream come true for every Palestinian terrorist who seeks to destroy Israel through diplomatic terror ...”
— “You should be ashamed of yourself, those who support a unilateral forced Palestinian terror state.”
— “This body reeks of antisemitism. It’s everywhere. The U.N. cares nothing for Israeli blood, nothing, zero. It is a collaborator of the Nazis of our day, working to assure Hamas’s survival and even rewards them for murder and rape. I have no words.”
— “You are encouraging their racism and antisemitism.”
— “This brainwashing did not happen overnight. It was the result of years of incitement and delegitimization here, here at the U.N. and you know who it is, who it is that set the stage for this blatant anti-Semitism —the U.N., the General Assembly. The anti-Israel vitriol spread here by this organization is what sparked what we are seeing today on college campuses…you are emboldening anti-Semites and terrorists alike.”
— “It is because of you mobs think that attacking Jews is acceptable.”
— “Look at the generations you have indoctrinated into antisemitism.”
— “There is no freedom to incite murder and violence; there is no liberty to attack Jewish students.”
— “Today is the ninth General Assembly meeting held on Gaza since Hamas’s massacre. Ninth. Not one of the meetings focused on condemning Hamas or releasing the hostages; not even one. I am disgusted by this institution.”
— “You are not interested in criticizing rogue states; you are interested only in smearing the Jewish state.”
— “Don’t you see how much of a joke the U.N. has become, a sick joke that cares nothing for the lives of civilians around the world, that cares nothing for wars being fought, that cares nothing for death, destruction and suffering. The only thing the U.N. cares about is bashing the Jewish state.”
— “Today the U.N. is a haven for terrorists, for tyrants, for dictators, a laundromat to whitewash their crimes while shifting the focus on the vibrant democracy of Israel. The root of all the U.N. evil is in this very room—the General Assembly.”
— “The clock is ticking and soon the world will wake up and see the disaster the U.N. has become. In the future ... students will study the fall of the U.N. They will learn of this organization’s moral
bankruptcy and blindness. They will be taught that your indifference and hypocrisy is what brought the U.N. crashing down.
“But this is also what will prompt the establishment of a new world institution, a force for good, one with a strong moral compass, democratic values, a body that will refuse to give dictators a free pass and terrorists a lifeline.
“Mark my words, the U.N.’s days are numbered.”
Setting aside Erdan’s prediction of U.N.’s demise, he is, of course, correct in U.N.’s antisemitism. It has been a cesspool of anti-Israel feelings for years, reaching its peak in 1975 when it adopted a resolution equating Zionism with racism. The resolution was revoked in 1991, but the damage was done, and revocation was meaningless since its politics did not change.
In 2022, the U.N. adopted 15 anti-Israel resolutions, two more critical resolutions than for all the other 193 countries in the general assembly—combined.
The question raised by Erdan’s speech: Should he have been so “aggressive” or might he have tempered his language?
In strategic sessions Israel probably decided to let Erdan proceed—let it all hang out, so to speak—because, unfortunately, it has nothing to lose in the U.N.
And that is the saddest moral of this story.
————————
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books.
