Etan Nechin
Haaretz / September 10, 2025
In an op-ed for Fox News, former Israeli PM and current opposition leader Yair Lapid called for the creation of a ‘UN of democracies,’ in which membership would require a readiness to confront what he described as ’the abuse of democratic mechanisms by those who despise democracy itself’
Opposition leader Yair Lapid on Wednesday called on democratic nations to “exit” the United Nations, accusing the international body of systemic bias against Israel and proposing a new alliance to counter what he described as “hypocrisy.”
In an op-ed published in Fox News, the former Israeli prime minister blasted the UN for what he called its “obsessive bias” against Israel. “The fact that the UN meets and votes against Israel is like rain in London: that’s just what it does.”
His comments come on the eve of the UN General Assembly, where a growing number of member states, including France and the United Kingdom, are expected to recognize a Palestinian state.
Israel also faces heightened international scrutiny over its war in Gaza, and most recently, its attempted assassination of Hamas leaders in Qatar, with a United Nations Security Council meeting expected on the matter on Thursday.
The op-ed was published as Lapid continues a visit to the United States. He argued that the UN’s moral authority has been corroded by the inclusion of authoritarian regimes, pointing to countries like Iran, Syria and North Korea holding seats on human rights panels. “A mix of post-colonial guilt and ideological laziness led the UN to admit more and more non-democratic states,” he wrote, adding that only 25 of the organization’s 193 member states can be considered “full democracies.”
“China currently serves on the Human Rights Council apparently because it cares so deeply about human rights,” he quipped. He also asserted that non-democracies and “flawed democracies” control the majority of votes on resolutions, budgets and sanctions.
Israeli leaders have long railed against what they describe as structural bias at the UN. In 1975, then-president Chaim Herzog tore apart the UN resolution equating Zionism with racism during a speech at the General Assembly. In 2021, Israel’s ambassador Gilad Erdan reprised the gesture, shredding the charter of the Human Rights Council in protest. He later called for the UN to be “wiped off the face of the earth.”
Israel recently withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council and UNESCO, along with the United States.
For the first time in half a century, Israel has also been downgraded from a liberal democracy to an electoral democracy. V-Dem index, the global ranking institute, cited the government’s judicial overhaul, attacks on the justice system, and a decline in protections for civil liberties as reasons for the shift.
But Lapid went further than past critics, calling for a “UN of democracies” or “DAWN – the Democratic Alliance for World Nations.”
Membership, Lapid wrote, would require a commitment to democracy, readiness to confront authoritarian leaders, and a focus on global challenges such as terrorism, religious fanaticism, nuclear proliferation, disinformation, and what he described as “the abuse of democratic mechanisms by those who despise democracy itself.”
Since the Gaza war began, Israel has faced four United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for humanitarian pauses, expanded aid deliveries, a cease-fire, and support for a hostage deal tied to a broader cease-fire and a two-state solution.
The op-ed has also come as the International Court of Justice weighs genocide allegations, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and global outrage mounts following an Israeli strike targeting Hamas leadership in Qatar and allegations that it is targeting journalists and blocking aid.
