Israeli envoy wears yellow star at UN

Israeli United Nations Ambassador Gilad Erdan speaks during a Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war at the UN headquarters on 30 October 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Israel's United Nations ambassador displayed a yellow star on his chest Monday as he addressed the Security Council, provocatively pledging to wear the badge until members of the body condemn Hamas "atrocities."
"Some of you have learned nothing in the past 80 years. Some of you have forgotten why this body was established," envoy Gilad Erdan said, as he denounced the Security Council for "staying silent" over the unprecedented deadly attacks by Hamas Palestinian militants against Israel on October 7.
The deeply divided 15-member council has not adopted a single resolution on the three-week-long war between Israel and Hamas.
"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," the ambassador said.
"Just like my grandparents, and the grandparents of millions of Jews, from now on my team and I will wear yellow stars," he said, standing up to affix one on the breast of his suit inscribed with the words "Never Again," in reference to the yellow stars Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis.
But Erdan will wear it "as a symbol of pride," he said.
"We will wear this star until you wake up and condemn the atrocities of Hamas."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the October 7 attacks the worst against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
For weeks the Security Council has been riven by divisions over the war and its impact, rejecting four draft resolutions about the conflict.
Some texts were blocked by the United States, a close Israeli ally because they did not mention Israel's right to defend itself.
Another presented by the Americans was stymied by Russia and China in particular because it did not clearly call for a ceasefire.
In light of the impasse, the UN General Assembly last Friday adopted by a large majority a nonbinding resolution requesting an "immediate humanitarian truce," but not mentioning Hamas.
