Israel’s United Nations Ambassador gives talk on Israel-Hamas war
Jonson Kuhn/The Aspen Times
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan spoke on Wednesday to a crowded auditorium at the Jewish Community Center – Chabad of Aspen about the current state of the war against Hamas and the falsehoods and misinformation he said he feels have been increasing since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
In addition to serving as Israel’s UN Ambassador, he served as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, which made him the first person to hold both roles concurrently since Israeli diplomat and politician Abba Eban during the ’50s.
Erdan also spent 17 years serving in the Israeli Knesset and held several ministerial positions including Minister of Public Security, Minister of Strategic Affairs, and Minister of Environmental Protection. He was a member of Israel’s Security Cabinet while leading many reforms within Israeli’s society.
In an introduction, Rabbi Mendel Mintz said Erdan has remained Israel’s voice on a global scale since the Oct. 7 attacks and continues to lead a fight for Israel’s future at the UN and elsewhere.
“His excellency speaks truth to power, combats the falsehoods, ensures that the release of the hostages is always at the forefront, and relentlessly defends Israel’s legitimacy in the war against Hamas terror,” Mintz said. “As a steadfast defender of Israel in a place where anti-Israel bias is institutionalized, Ambassador Erdan is constantly fighting for Israel on the world stage and makes the truth heard loud and clear.”
Erdan began his talk by reminding that, as of last Sunday, it has been six months since Hamas orchestrated the most brutal massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. He spoke of parents and children being murdered in front of one another as well as Israeli women becoming victims of systemic systematic rape while over 250 of hostages were taken by Hamas to Gaza.
“From the ashes of this tragedy, we have also witnessed something beautiful,” Erdan said. “We have seen the Jewish people rise up together with pride, with strength. And over the past six months, Jews, the world over by the way, put differences aside and stood together as one people. We became one people with one heart.”
Yet another reminder he shared with Wednesday night’s crowd was Hamas’ use of GoPro cameras to livestream their brutal attacks online. He stressed the importance of bearing in mind such a crucial detail when trying to analyze Hamas’ “vicious plan,” which he said has gone far beyond the indiscriminate murdering of Israeli civilians and missile attacks on cities and villages they’ve endured for years.
Erdan further raised the question of how Hamas planned to survive retaliation when they knew all too well that Israel would quickly answer back with aggressive force. He said the answer to the question is found in Hamas’ attempts to “weaponize” the UN in order to prevent Israel from exercising a right to self defense.
“Today, their strategy is different; they do not aim to attack our military, our soldiers. Their strategy is to target us where they think we are weak on our homefront,” he said. “But when we stand together as one people, having the backs of every Israeli, we send a clear message to our enemies,” he said. “You try to break us and divide us, but we will never be broken, we will never be broken.”
In addition to speaking out against Hamas, Erdan also shared strong criticism for the UN, as well, at one point going so far as to refer to the international organization as collaborators with terrorists. He explained how the political makeup of the UN has changed dramatically over the years with the inclusion of member states. The UN, which was founded in 1945, began with 57 member states two years after the end of the Holocaust.
Today, the UN is home to 193 countries, 56 of which are Muslim. According to Erdan, that’s nearly 1/3 of the UN’s total, with more than half of the UN’s countries not being democracies. It’s through these gradual changes that he pinpoints as the cause for the UN’s perceived hostility towards Israel, pointing to 70% of the UN’s condemnations going to Israel as evidence — that’s more than Russia, Syria, North Korea, and Iran combined.
“The UN has been dominated by terrorists and tyrants,” he said. “In the General Assembly, most of the countries are nondemocratic, but sometimes they love democratic values because in the 193 member states, every country has exactly the same voting power. So with Muslim countries and nondemocratic countries, the result is … (t)he UN has become a weapon in the hands of our enemies.”
Before concluding the evening’s talk for audience questions, Erdan made the comparison to the US and allies taking nine months to reclaim Mosul from ISIS, which at the time was being held by 5,000 terrorists, whereas in less than six months, the IDF has neutralized over 20,000 Hamas terrorists. He said that a ceasefire would only allow for Hamas to stay in power, and that the only path forward was to continue fighting until all of Hamas has been dismantled.
“Policymakers must understand that Israel cannot stop fighting until commerce is obliterated and our hostages return. Did anyone call for a ceasefire when the Allies fought the Nazis? Did anyone call for a ceasefire when the world fought Al Qaeda or ISIS? No and no,” he said. “I know that Israel’s future is bright; we just need to preserve our unity and perseverance, today more than ever. God willing we will obliterate Hamas, God willing we will bring the hostages home, and God willing we will prevail.”
To reach Jonson Kuhn, email him at jkuhn@aspentimes.com.
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