Shimon Rafaeli criticized leaders’ statements at the UN General Assembly — Jerusalem Post

Shimon Rafaeli, deputy head of the Israel Defense and Security Forum’s Institute for Security Policy, criticized world leaders’ statements about Israel during the general debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2026 in a Jerusalem Post column. The author believes that a number of speeches at the UN platform were one-sided and directed against Israel.

Statements at the General Assembly

Rafaeli mentioned the farewell speech of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. According to his claim, Guterres harshly criticized Israeli settlement policy in Judea and Samaria and used the term “ethnic cleansing.”

The author also cited statements by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the King of Jordan, the Emir of Qatar, and French President Emmanuel Macron. In particular, Rafaeli wrote that Erdoğan called Gaza a “concentration camp,” while the King of Jordan urged consideration of sanctions against Israel.

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Sukkot and historical memory

In the column, Rafaeli contrasted the criticism at the UN General Assembly with the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. He called historical memory an important component of preserving Jewish identity and referred to a passage from the Book of Leviticus about dwelling in sukkahs.

The author also mentioned former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom Jonathan Sacks, who wrote about the central importance of memory in Judaism. In Rafaeli’s view, the Sukkot tradition recalls the Jewish people’s connection to their history and land, as well as the need to resist attempts to reinterpret historical events.