Israel is going to continue fighting until the “full obliteration of Hamas capabilities” in the Gaza Strip, Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan told The Jerusalem Post 2024 Annual Conference on Monday.
Speaking to Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein, Erdan expanded on the challenges he faced to convey Israel’s messaging on the international stage, as well as on a potential return to the fore of Israeli politics within the Likud Party.
Asked about his first acts following the events of October 7, Erdan said: “I was here [on October 7]. We just returned from Simchat Torah dinner, suddenly I saw all the red alert notifications... I did not remember reading any intelligence leading to the attack.
UN is largely hostile
“I demanded a [UN] Security Council meeting but I understood this was different, it was not going to be another operation but a full-scale war. How do I convey that to the international community?”
In that meeting, Erdan showed the members early footage of the October 7 massacre that was filmed and shared by Hamas terrorists.
“I told them, remember this, look at their faces. Because your memory when it comes to the suffering of the Israeli people is much shorter, so remember exactly as you fought ISIS and al-Qaeda, we are going to continue fighting until full obliteration of Hamas capabilities.”
“I do not mean to convince the Israeli public. When I speak at the UN, I speak to a very hostile and biased organization, a third of which is comprised of Muslim nations, which automatically support Hamas. A vast majority of members are non-democratic," Erdan said.
“I speak to the world, I speak to the international press, people who are not aware of the fact they know very little about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, so I have to draw their attention and force them to think about my messages," he said.
“For example, when I wore the yellow Star of David, I think I convinced the Security Council that their silence is equal to the silence during the Holocaust. I made them think about it,” the ambassador stated. “People today are aware of the effects of October 7 just as they are aware of September 11’s.”
On political tensions and brewing crises within Israel’s government and Erdan’s Likud faction, the envoy said that “he is still a diplomat and can’t analyze the political situation in Israel.
"I'm not sure that Israeli politics are easier than the UN, but I definitely intend to have a positive impact on Israel’s future when I return soon. Asked whether he needed a break from the UN, Erdan jokingly replied “definitely,” before further stating he is “very lonely” at the United Nations General Assembly.
“But I don’t care,” Erdan said. “The most important thing to me is to maintain the sense of unity we feel worldwide among Jewish communities since October 7."