Israel and the United Nations: understanding the responses to October 7th

Since October 7, 2023, the United Nations has been perhaps more politicized about Israel than almost any time in its nearly 80-year existence. The way that Israel was treated from the day after the Hamas atrocities can only be understood within the historical context of how, throughout the UN’s history, the organization has been biased against Israel. The UN treats the State of Israel, the one Jewish country in the world, as different from all other sovereign nations. That begins with denying Jews’ right of self-determination—their right to govern themselves. It also includes denying Israel the right to self-defense, to security for her citizens, and to have effective borders around her land. And it includes holding Israel to different standards from those applied to all other sovereign states, denying its right to equality with all other nations. This paper explores some of those responses, situating them within the legal and political history of the UN and Israel and documenting and explaining how the UN has treated Israel and how Israel has responded to the antizionism that has dominated and politicized all parts of the UN.