On October 7, 2023, the world was shocked by the horrific attacks carried out by Hamas against more than 1,200 innocent Israeli, American, and other civilians who were simply going about their daily lives. The images of mutilated babies, fathers and mothers slain in front of their children, and peace activists murdered in cold blood were haunting and deeply disturbing. The taking of 250 hostages added to the tragedy, with some still not released after over 20 months.
That day, the United States called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to address these attacks, the largest murder of Jews since the Holocaust. As the American ambassador to the UN responsible for Security Council matters, I represented the United States at the October 8 emergency meeting and demanded the council issue a statement condemning Hamas for the ruthless terrorist attacks. However, Russia, China, and a few other council members refused to endorse this statement, a decision that was both abhorrent and incomprehensible. To this day, the Security Council has not formally declared Hamas a terrorist group.
Going into the October 8 emergency meeting, there was widespread global sympathy for Israel, with an expectation that it would respond militarily. However, once Israel took measures to defend itself, many nations, particularly from the Global South, condemned the response as disproportionate and used this as a rallying cry to further isolate Israel in the multilateral system.
It was not unexpected, according to me and many of my U.S. government colleagues. Since joining the UN in 1948, there has been a clear decline in support for Israel at the world body, a trend that accelerated after the decolonization period in the 1960s. Many former colonies began to view the Israel-Palestinian conflict through the prism of their own struggles against European colonizers, with Israel seen as a colonizer and the Palestinians as being colonized.
Israel’s relationship with the UN reached its lowest point in 1975, when the UN General Assembly passed a resolution equating Zionism with racism, a document that was finally revoked in 1991. These efforts by Palestinian allies to isolate Israel at the UN have not abated and have actually intensified since October 7, 2023.
During my time as ambassador, I engaged in a great deal of difficult diplomacy on the situation in Gaza and cast the sole veto of two UNSC draft resolutions related to the war. Both of these resolutions lacked a clear condemnation of Hamas, a direct linkage of a ceasefire to the release of hostages, and a reference to Israel’s Article 51 rights.
Had these texts been adopted by the council, they would not have delivered an immediate ceasefire or the release of hostages. Instead, they would have given Hamas time and space to rearm. Other council representatives privately agreed but felt increasing pressure from their capitals to produce a council document calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Throughout the conflict, the U.S. regularly offered creative alternatives on ceasefire language, while most other council members insisted on an explicit reference to an immediate ceasefire. On rare occasions, the council was able to find common ground on Gaza wording when it focused on upholding the principles of humanitarian aid and regional stability.
While I had expected Russia and China to take adversarial positions, I was extremely disappointed that three U.S. partners on the council, Slovenia, Algeria, and Guyana, chose to regularly piggyback on Russian and Chinese political maneuvering to push for more urgent council action on the issue. Their aim was to shame the U.S. and compel it to change course from its steadfast support of Israel in the war with Hamas.
All the while, these countries were keenly aware that Washington was conducting sensitive negotiations behind the scenes with Israel, Qatar, and Egypt on steps to facilitate a durable end to the fighting and ease civilian suffering in Gaza. Instead of getting fully behind those steps and working with us in good faith, they preferred to ratchet up public pressure on the U.S. and ignore American concerns about how their actions would be manipulated by Hamas and other malign actors in the region – Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis – to the detriment of regional peace and security.
Given persistent council divisions over the war in Gaza, some UN member states continue to lay the diplomatic groundwork for a future General Assembly resolution calling for sanctions, an arms embargo, and other tough international measures against Israel. The recent U.S. veto of another council resolution on Gaza will certainly provide fuel for these efforts. As I write, the Palestinians and their allies continue to ponder additional pathways to go after Israel throughout the UN system. There is even discussion in some UN circles about suspending Israel’s voting rights in the General Assembly, an act that would deeply anger Washington and trigger severe political consequences for the UN.
Since this tragic conflict began, I have been mystified as to why many UN officials believe that all the U.S. has to do is instruct Israel to end its pursuit of Hamas and then somehow a magical end to the fighting would materialize. On their part, I sense a genuine reluctance to treat Israel as a legitimate state with its own national security concerns. While the United States does indeed have influence with Israel, it is naïve at best for these colleagues to think America can simply dictate to Jerusalem what it should and shouldn’t do in response to what it perceives as existential threats.
Misguided pressure on the U.S., relentless efforts to isolate Israel, Russian and Chinese diversionary tactics, blatant antisemitism, and a reluctance by some states to compromise continue to stymie the Security Council’s ability to speak with one voice on ending the Gaza war. Until these unfortunate practices cease, the council will remain irrelevant to a resolution to Gaza and the broader Israel-Palestinian conflict.
While no one can ignore the terrible tragedy that is now Gaza, it remains a fact that those UN member states that have influence with Hamas have made a strategic decision not to use it. The hesitancy of many countries over the years to publicly condemn Hamas as a terrorist group has only given it the oxygen it needs to carry on, no matter how much death and suffering Palestinians in Gaza continue to experience.
To end this war, Hamas must disarm and disband. There will not be peace in Gaza until it does. Gazans deserve an opportunity to live in peace and to seek a prosperous future. Hamas’ continued rule will bring them neither.