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Israel’s UN envoy says he’ll wear Nazi yellow star until other countries condemn Hamas
(JTA) — Israel’s envoy to the United Nations,took an unusual step on Monday while exhorting the international body to condemn Hamas, the terrorist group that his country is trying to defeat.
Ambassador Gilad Erdan pinned to his suit jacket a yellow Star of David, telling those in attendance that he would wear the symbol — which the Nazis required Jews to wear during the Holocaust — until the United Nations votes to condemn Hamas. His version bore the words “Never Again,” a longtime rallying cry for those who want to prevent another genocide of Jews.
“Some of you have learned nothing in the past 80 years. Some of you have forgotten why this body was established,” Erdan said. “So I will remind you. From this day on, each time you look at me, you will remember what staying silent in the face of evil means.”
He added, “Just like my grandparents and the grandparents of millions of Jews, from now on, my team and I will wear yellow stars. We will wear this star until you wake up and condemn the atrocities of Hamas.”
Earlier this week, the United Nations General Assembly rejected a motion to condemn Hamas, whose attack on Oct. 7 killed 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians. Instead, the body passed a call for a ceasefire. Israel rejects the call for a ceasefire, which would allow Hamas to remain in place in Gaza.
Some within Israel have taken to comparing Hamas to the Nazis, citing the gruesome atrocities carried out against Jews in the course of murdering them. But the Israeli government and military have more often cited ISIS, the Islamic terror group, as an apt comparison, even releasing a video showing captured Hamas terrorists agreeing with the comparison. The United Nations and world leaders around the globe have condemned ISIS and sought to eliminate the group.
Not everyone within Israel is on board with Erdan’s display. Several representatives of the Foreign Ministry told Haaretz that Erdan’s “media gimmick” was not coordinated with the country’s strategy on discussing Hamas and seemed like more of a political gambit than a strategic one.
And Yad Vashem chair Dani Dayan criticized his display, saying it “disgraces both Holocaust victims and the state of Israel” because Israel, unlike the Jews of the Holocaust, has the capacity to defend itself.
“The yellow star symbolizes the Jewish people’s helplessness and their being at the mercy of others,” he tweeted. “Today we have an independent state and a strong army. We are the masters of our fate. Today we shall wear a blue-white flag, not a yellow star, on our lapel.”
The appropriation of the yellow star in other settings has drawn criticism before, including when people opposed to vaccination requirements and other public health measures during the pandemic donned them to suggest that they were being persecuted the way the Nazis persecuted the Jews.
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The post Israel’s UN envoy says he’ll wear Nazi yellow star until other countries condemn Hamas 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.