Former Israeli UN representative Gilad Erdan stated that the "UN is a lost cause. It has no real ability to protect human rights," during a conversation with Israel's Defense and Security Forum (Habitchonistim)'s Vice President of Research and Content, Or Yissachar, at their "Year of Opportunity" National Security Conference, hosted by partnership with Channel 14, on Thursday.
Erdan stated that his four years as ambassador to the UN helped him reach a "clear conclusion" that even "during a war like this, the UN served Hamas's interests."
Attempting to explain why this is the case, Erdan stated that "In today’s political composition of the UN—where a third of the member states are Muslim countries that vote as a bloc, and more than half the world’s countries today are not democracies—there will always be an automatic majority against Israel."
"The UN causes Israel first-degree security damage. It’s not enough to build the IDF and acquire arms, aircraft, and tanks if, in the end, we don’t have the legitimacy to use our military capabilities." Erdan added.
"Bottom line, Israel must launch a global campaign to convince countries to stop funding the UN,” he concluded.
Did hasbara fail?
Erdan also discussed Israel's public diplomacy strategy, also known as 'hasbara.'
"There’s no doubt that Israel didn’t prepare itself for the campaign—not only militarily but also in terms of public diplomacy. There has never been a single authority under which all of Israel’s public diplomacy bodies operate. When you look at the budgets for hasbara, they’re a joke." he stated.
"We all understand that terrorist organizations know they can’t defeat the IDF, so they attack Israel’s home front and then block our right to self-defense through the use of propaganda and UN institutions."
When seeking to explain what Erdan believes Israel should do instead, he stated "Just like we carried out the 'war between the wars' in Lebanon and Syria, we should have done the same with hasbara—constantly showing the world the use of mosques and hospitals, and how Hamas and Hezbollah embed themselves within the civilian population.”
The term hasbara is not a word that can properly be translated to English. However, its approximate meaning would be "explaining." In its context of use, hasbara essentially refers to Israeli public diplomacy, explaining Israel and Israel's actions in a way that puts the Jewish state in a positive light.
Who is Gilad Erdan?
Erdan held the position of Israel's Permanent Representative to the UN from 2020 until 2024.
Erdan notably served as both Israel's Ambassador to the US and to the UN for a short period in 2021, before Michael Herzog replaced him as Ambassador to Washington in November 2021.
He served as a member of Knesset for Likud from 2003 until 2020.
He also held the positions of regional cooperation minister, interior minister, and strategic affairs minister throughout his career in government, along with other ministerial positions.
In September 2024, he was appointed global president of Magen David Adom, and was appointed to lead the newly established Center for Diplomacy and International Cooperation at the Misgav Institute for National Security in October 2024.