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Israel’s UN Ambassador Leaving When Needed Most
The government of Israel will be losing a key and effective diplomat in New York just when it needs her most.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev, highly praised for her low-key, thoughtful and compassionate work these last two years, is returning to Israel and her academic life at the end of this month on the eve of what some Israeli officials here are already predicting will be a “Black September” for the Jewish state at the UN.
That’s because next month’s General Assembly is expected to take up such difficult and contentious issues as the Goldstone Report on Israel’s alleged war crimes during the Gaza invasion of 2008, the flotilla incident earlier this summer, and the coming end of the Netanyahu government’s freeze on West Bank construction – plus the annual visit of Iranian President Ahmadinejad.
Defying logic, Israel chooses to appoint a new ambassador to the UN just prior to the most important event on the world body’s annual calendar, the General Assembly, which brings in international leaders for key presentations and consultations.
Ask Israeli officials why the government couldn’t make the transition months earlier, to give the new diplomat time to meet key personnel and gain experience, and they simply shrug.
To make matters worse, the open political wrangling between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, plays out on a grand scale when it comes to key diplomatic appointments, under the authority of the foreign ministry. The top UN post is a case in point. The two leaders couldn’t reach consensus so Meron Reuben, the new appointee who most recently served as Ambassador to Colombia, is here on an interim basis. A veteran but little-known diplomat, he is a native of South Africa and apparently impressed Lieberman when the foreign minister visited South America last summer.
In an interview this week, Ambassador Shalev acknowledged that “politically, Israel is more isolated than ever before” at the UN, “the only country in the world whose existence is challenged” there.
Shalev was effusive in her praise of the U.S. as the staunchest of allies, and on both a personal and professional level, of American Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice.
“She is a wonderful friend,” she said of Rice, who she said was instrumental in convincing China and Russia to sign on to tougher UN sanctions on Iran.
Rice, in turn, recently described Shalev as “one of my favorite people,” and ranked her “as among the best representatives that Israel has ever had at the United Nations for her dedication, her skill and her extraordinary heart.”
But Shalev observed that as a result of President Obama’s “new policy of engagement” and attempt at dialogue with Iran and the Muslim world, the “American mission is more popular now at the UN, people feel it; the U.S. tries to be more balanced.”
Shalev had good relationships with a number of diplomats, including those from the Arab world. That didn’t mean she persuaded them to change their views, but she felt they listened to her with respect.
Her advice to her successor? “I hope he has more time to focus on the Israel beyond the conflict.”
That was her intention two years ago, but circumstances – most notably the Goldstone report, which she said took up “so much energy” – intervened.
Shalev plans to return to academia and work on two books on legal issues like contract laws, her expertise.
She will be missed.
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The post Israel’s UN Ambassador Leaving When Needed Most appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.