Israel’s ambassador to the UN wears Nazi-era yellow star as he slams Security Council ‘for staying silent’ as Jewish babies are burned by Hamas

Israel’s ambassador to the UN on Monday displayed a yellow star reminiscent of Holocaust victims on his chest and provocatively vowed to wear the badge until Security Council members condemn Hamas’ “atrocities.”

The state previously called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to resign after he said last week that the October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,400 people “did not take place in a vacuum.”

“Some of you have learned nothing in the last eighty years. Some of you have forgotten why this body was created,” envoy Gilad Erdan said.

Erdan criticized the Security Council for being “silent” about the unprecedented deadly attacks by Palestinian militants from Hamas on Israel.

The deeply divided 15-member council has not passed a single resolution on the three-week war between Israel and Hamas.

“So I’ll remind you. From this day forward, every time you look at me, you will remember what silence in the face of evil means,” the ambassador said.

“Like my grandparents, and the grandparents of millions of Jews, my team and I will wear yellow stars from now on,” he said, standing to attach one to the chest of his suit with the inscription “Never Again ‘. referring to the yellow stars that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis.

But Erdan will wear it “as a symbol of pride,” he said.

“We will wear this star until you wake up and condemn Hamas’s atrocities.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the October 7 attacks the worst against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

For weeks, the Security Council has been riven by divisions over the war and its impact, rejecting four draft resolutions on the conflict.

Some texts were blocked by the United States, a close ally of Israel, because they did not mention Israel’s right to defend itself.

Another proposal from the Americans was thwarted, especially by Russia and China, because it did not clearly call for a ceasefire.

In light of the standoff, the UN General Assembly passed by a large majority last Friday a non-binding resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” but which did not mention Hamas.

Israel, through Erdan, has rejected the text, saying it “will be considered shameful.”

At Monday’s Security Council meeting, several speakers, while denouncing the Hamas attacks, emphasized the price paid by residents of Gaza, where health officials say more than 8,300 people have been killed in Hamas-held Palestinian territory. area.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said the siege of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of its residents.

It comes as Israeli officials backtrack on their promised refusal to grant entry visas to UN officials.

Martin Griffiths, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, tweeted on Monday that he was in Israel – less than a week after Israel’s UN ambassador said it had “refused” to grant Griffiths a visa.

Israel has called on the UN Secretary General to resign, saying Hamas’ attacks cannot justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

In a major diplomatic row, Israel’s UN ambassador said Antonio Guterres was “not fit” to lead the body after claiming the 1,400 killings did not take place “in a vacuum.”

The UN chief made the inflammatory comments during a high-level meeting of the 15-member Security Council ahead of an expected ground invasion of Gaza.

“The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation,” Guterres said.

“But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify Hamas’ abhorrent attacks. And these abhorrent attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

Erdan called the speech “shocking” and Mr Guterres was “completely disconnected from the reality of our region”.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres stood by his comments.

On Monday, Israeli Ambassador to Geneva Meirav Eilon Shahar said: “We have not said categorically that we will not issue visas. We are… We understand their need to be there.”

Eilon Shahar confirmed that Griffiths was in Israel, as did other officials including Han Kluge, the regional head of the World Health Organization.

But she continued to express Israel’s frustration that leaders of the UN institutions did not speak out more forcefully against Hamas militants for “slaughtering civilians and women in such a brutal manner.”

“The United Nations has failed the people of Israel,” Eilon Shahar added. “When I say the United Nations, I am talking about the multilateral organizations that have failed the people of Israel.”

He added: “The UN Secretary General, who understands the campaign of mass murder of children, women and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN. I call on him to resign immediately. There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people.”

Earlier, Israel’s foreign minister said he would no longer meet Mr Guterres and criticized his call for a ceasefire at the UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday.

Eli Cohen said, “Mr. Secretary General, what world do you live in? This is definitely not our world,” as he held up photos of children abducted by Hamas. “How can you agree to a ceasefire when someone has vowed to kill and destroy your existence,” he added.

Cohen then thanked President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for their support of Israel.

At yesterday’s meeting, Israel defied calls for a ceasefire and called its war against Hamas a “war of the free world.”

Blinken and Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki both called for protection of civilians in Gaza.