UN Betrayal and Israel’s Fight for Truth

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has accused the United Nations of betraying Israel, arguing that the global body has repeatedly condemned Israel while enabling humanitarian aid to Gaza. He writes in a Fox News opinion piece that he personally sat in meetings with U.N. officials, painstakingly negotiating frameworks to ensure humanitarian aid reached civilians in Gaza, overseeing budgets, coordinating secure passageways for convoys, and approving daily discussions with U.N. representatives about food, medicine and fuel. These efforts were undertaken not for Hamas’s sake, but because, as Israelis, we recognize the sanctity of human life, even beyond our own side of the battlefield. Despite these steps, the U.N. has issued routine condemnations that Gallant says reflect hostility dressed in the language of international law.

He notes a political reality inside the U.N. that he views as biased: Iran, North Korea, and Syria sit on council bodies while Israel is dragged before panels that he says masquerade as courts of justice. He also points to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), arguing that facilities built for education and healthcare in Gaza have been weaponized, becoming arsenals and infrastructure for Hamas. The Human Rights Council, in his view, spends more time singling out Israel than addressing other global crises. According to Gallant, this pattern is not a coincidence but the result of an institution he says has been co-opted by regimes determined to undermine the Jewish state.

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The former defense minister adds that in international forums—especially at the U.N.—the truth often does not get a hearing. He says Israel is held to impossible double standards, and when the world’s only Jewish state is condemned more than regimes responsible for atrocities, that, he argues, amounts to antisemitism rebranded for a new era. He points to a UN report that he says distorts facts and omits vital context, particularly regarding Hamas’ human shields and tunnels, and rocket fire launched from civilian sites. He emphasizes that his positions have always prioritized proportionality and distinction, and that warnings given to civilians before strikes reflect Israel’s effort to minimize harm to noncombatants.

In his account, the UN report targets him personally, labeling him and other Israeli officials as responsible for war crimes and, by extension, for genocide. Gallant contends the report relies on misquotes and selective context. He recalls a controversial remark from the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7—calling those responsible for the attacks “human animals”—and argues that the report uses that description to distort the broader intent of his and Israel’s actions against Hamas. He stresses that the phrase was aimed at the terrorists, not at Palestinians as a people, and that the context was the brutal acts carried out by Hamas and their sponsors. He states that there is no evidence that he or any Israeli official has dehumanized Palestinians.

The wider Gaza crisis, Gallant says, illustrates the complexity of modern urban warfare: Hamas embeds itself in civilian infrastructure, uses human shields, and controls hostages. He notes the ongoing tragedy of civilians, including emaciated hostages who have been moved to staged settings by Hamas before handovers to the Red Cross, underscoring the human toll of conflict. The deputy defense minister’s argument centers on a call for principled accountability that applies to all parties, not a one-sided standard.

The international community now faces a choice, he argues: allow the U.N. to continue as a platform for bias and manipulation, or insist that truth and accountability guide its work. He says Israel seeks no special favors, only fairness, and that the UN must apply equal standards to all sides in the conflict. If the U.N. wants to fulfill its founding mission, Gallant contends, it must ensure that humanitarian language is not weaponized in service of terrorism. He states that the United Nations’ history—born from a resolve to prevent the horrors of the Holocaust—should compel it to uphold fairness, not serve as cover for prejudice or mischaracterization. Israel, he concludes, will continue to defend itself and its people while upholding moral obligations, even if some global voices choose to look away.

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