Israeli U.N. ambassador lays out steps for how Gaza war can end

The war in Gaza can’t end without the eradication of Hamas and the release of the roughly 120 hostages the militants are holding since they perpetrated the October terrorist attacks, said Israel’s United Nations ambassador in Las Vegas.

Gilad Erdan spoke Monday at a Hadassah conference on the Strip. The health care-based nongovernmental organization touts itself as the “largest and most influential women’s Zionist organization in the world.”

Hundreds of its members heard Erdan’s thoughts on the war, Iranian proxies, Israel’s diplomatic positions, antisemitism and U.S. campus protests.

‘Not freedom fighters’

“These are not freedom fighters,” said Erdan about Hamas. “They are fighting … to murder all Jews: Jews in Israel, Jews in the United States, Jews all around the globe.”

Erdan announced his resignation in late May and is wrapping up his duties as ambassador.

“If Israel is defeated, if we — God forbid — cannot eradicate Hamas’ terror capabilities, if we cannot eradicate Hamas from governmental capabilities, then what is the message? What is the lesson to all other radical jihadists across the globe?”

Hamas-led terrorists killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel on Oct. 7 and took about 250 others hostage. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s subsequent air and ground offensive on Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

Erdan’s remarks only a few days after a rocket attack from Lebanon into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights killed 12 children in a soccer field, according to Israeli authorities.

The Hezbollah militant group, which Israel blamed for the strike, has denied responsibility.

The U.S. has designated Hezbollah, which has long vowed to destroy Israel, as a terrorist organization.

“Sadly, I will have to say, I don’t see any other option than to initiate a full-scale war against Hezbollah,” he said.

Israel will require American collaboration to “pressure” Iran into a regime change, Erdan said.

“It’s not only Israel that lost its deterrence, it’s also the United States of America that lost its deterrence,” he said about attacks from Iranian-backed militias against U.S. interests in Iraq.

Hadassah’s founding predates the state of Israel and the women’s right to vote in the United States. It counts 300,000 members, about 400 of whom attended the conference at the Planet Hollywood.

UN, antisemitism and campus protests

Erdan has been an outspoken critic of the UN, accusing it of not holding Hamas responsible, while condemning Israel for its response.

“The political situation within the UN is terrible,” he said. “The UN has totally lost its legitimacy and its relevancy, and it cannot function any more as the most important international body tasked with preventing wars or defending human rights.”

Erdan also blamed the UN for not deterring the Hezbollah group and allowing it to amass weaponry.

He also brought up the anti-Israel demonstrations.

“We are seeing what’s happening on college campuses,” he said. “We’re seeing how presidents of universities are afraid to speak up, they hide behind empty slogans.”

“I believe that the era of words and calling out our haters and detractors is over,” he added. “Words are not enough anymore, we must demand action, and we have the power to demand these options.”

He said professors who allow Jewish students to be harassed, should be fired, and the responsible students expelled.

A Jewish student recently sued UNLV, its president and the Nevada System of Higher Education, alleging that they he had suffered antisemitism on campus, and that officials had done nothing to stop it.

“This is the time now to divest, stop donating to those universities,” Erdan said to heavy applause.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.