Former Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called for the United Nations to be defunded and dismantled, saying at The Jerusalem Post Conference in New York that the organization has become structurally hostile to Israel and incapable of reform.
“Defund the UN. Replace it with a real league of democracies,” Erdan said during a panel with political analyst Danielle Roth Avneri. “After 80 years, it is time to get rid of the UN.”
Erdan, who now serves as global president of Magen David Adom, said the UN’s problem was not limited to Secretary-General António Guterres, whom he sharply criticized, but was rooted in the organization’s political makeup.
“When you have more than 50% of member states that are non-democracies, and almost one-third of UN member states are Muslim countries that vote together against Israel, of course there is no way to fix it from within,” he said.
He pointed to Iran’s election to the Human Rights Council and Saudi Arabia’s role chairing the Commission on the Status of Women as examples of what he described as the UN’s moral collapse.
The former ambassador also addressed the threat from Iran, saying that although the recent war had achieved major results, Israel could not rely solely on Washington’s decisions in the next stage.
Erdan praised US President Donald Trump, saying he deserved “huge credit” and that Israel owed him “huge gratitude.” However, he cautioned that Trump was ultimately the president of the US, not Israel, and would also weigh American interests, the economy, and the midterm elections.
“Any deal with the ayatollahs’ Iranian regime that keeps them in place is a bad deal for the future of Israel,” Erdan said, adding that he believed an agreement between Washington and Tehran would ultimately be signed.
The minimum terms, he said, must include removing all enriched uranium from Iran and dismantling all of its nuclear facilities.
“Otherwise, I’m sorry to say, it will be the same kind of agreement as the one that was signed during President Obama’s term,” he said.
Erdan also spoke about his transition from the UN to Magen David Adom, describing it as a move from “an organization of pure evil” to “an organization of pure good.”
“What can be better than saving lives in the Holy Land, 24/7, 365 days a year?” he said.
He warned that Israel’s enemies have long sought to target civilians rather than only soldiers, saying Hamas terrorists had instructions to deliberately attack paramedics and ambulances.
“If Magen David Adom is strong, if we are deployed everywhere, if we have enough armored ambulances, if we have the most state-of-the-art equipment, then help will be there within seconds,” he said.
Erdan also confirmed that he is working to establish a new right-wing party in Israel, saying that many Israelis feel “politically homeless.”
He said the party would be clearly right-wing, but committed to the principle that “everyone in Israel, including Arabs and including haredim, should share the burden.”
“That’s how we can fortify our unity and our future,” he said.