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Gilad Erdan Bids Farewell to United Nations, Ending Four-Year Tenure as Israeli Ambassador
Gilad Erdan addresses delegates at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, US May 10, 2024. Photo: Eduardo Munoz via Reuters Connect
Gilad Erdan bid farewell to the United Nations on Monday during an intimate ceremony held in New York City, capping off a four-year tenure as Israel’s permanent representative to the international body and beginning what many of his friends and supporters hope is a new chapter of his decorated career.
“I had the immense, immense privilege of representing Israel at the United Nations. I woke up every morning with a clear mission to prove that Israel is a moral state, a country that cherishes life and peace, a country that wants to protect its citizens like any other country, and a state with the best and most ethical army in the world — the IDF [Israel Defense Forces],” Erdan said in a speech which followed tributes by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and Jewish leaders.
He continued, “I did everything I could to raise awareness about the horrors of Oct. 7, about our hostages … and the sexual violence we saw against Israeli women. I did this in every way possible, and with all means at my disposable, yes. It was a way to raise awareness, to shock, to cry out for those who cannot.”
Born in Ashkelon, Israel in 1970, Erdan has spent the past three decades serving the Israeli people as a public servant in both foreign and domestic affairs. A member of the Likud Party, he has been a member of parliament and held several key ministerial roles, traveling across the world and working with some of the most consequential — and controversial — leaders of recent decades time, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden, and former US President Donald Trump.
As UN ambassador, Erdan became a leading defender of Israel’s foreign policy, defending the country’s efforts to combat terrorism and facing down numerous attempts to undermine its standing in the community of nations. Often, the body in which he served, the United Nations, became the object of his frustration and opprobrium.
In 2022, Erdan slammed the UN General Assembly for scheduling a controversial vote on a resolution which asked the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the Palestinian territories, saying, “No international body can decide that the Jewish people are ‘occupiers’ in their own homeland” and charging that the decision to schedule the vote during Shabbat was “another example of the moral decay of the UN.”
After the Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel perpetrated by Hamas — a tragedy in which more Jews were killed in a single day than any time since the Holocaust — Erdan insisted on the return of the 250 hostages kidnapped by the terrorist group and transported to Gaza as a precondition for any dialogue aimed at ending Israel’s war to eradicate Hamas. He also criticized the UN for initiating a series of resolutions which ignored the sexual violence Hamas committed against Israeli women.
“Will you continue your silence and indifference?” he said in March following a UN report which included copious evidence supporting accounts of Hamas’ sexual assaults. “What if these were your daughters, your granddaughters. Would you continue to ignore them or would you demand immediate action?”
The Israeli government in June agreed to appoint Likud lawmaker Danny Danon as Israel’s next ambassador to the UN, succeeding Erdan.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Gilad Erdan Bids Farewell to United Nations, Ending Four-Year Tenure as Israeli Ambassador first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.