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.
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