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Explainer: The United Nations and Israel

The U.N. partition resolution in 1947 cleared the way for Israel to declare independence six months later, but since then the United Nations has largely been antagonistic and condemnatory toward Israel and a tool for the Palestinians and Israel’s enemies.

Explainer Articles|April 29, 2025

Bibliography — U.N. and Israel

April 2025 CIE has compiled the following list of books and articles, including some available on our website, to guide understanding of Israel’s relations with the United Nations. ‘’ Books Amitzur Ilan. Bernadotte in Palestine,…

Bibliographies|April 30, 2025
How Zionists Created the State of Israel

How Did the Zionists Create the State of Israel?

Delve into the roots of Jewish peoplehood and the pivotal moments in Jewish history that led to the rebirth of Israel in 1948. Explore how precarious Diaspora life and outbursts of violent antisemitism catalyzed Jewish self-determination. Examine how Jewish leaders employed compromise, perseverance and adaptation in interactions with the Ottomans, British, and Arabs to overcome challenges, and so much more.

Netanyahu’s Address to the U.N. General Assembly, 2023

Addressing Israel’s fear of Iran’s access to nuclear weapons, the same point made by his predecessor Yair Lapid stressed in 2022 at the UN, Netanyahu like Lapid praised the Abraham Accords, noting in a quite unrestrained fashion that Israel was on the ‘cusp of a historic peace with Saudi Arabia.” The Prime Minister did mention support for a two-state solution with the Palestinians as Lapid had done previously.

Documents and Sources|September 22, 2023

Ralph Bunche, 1904-1971

Bunche, an American diplomat, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for brokering the armistice agreements between Israel and four Arab neighbors in 1949. He served in 1947 with the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine,…

Biographies|October 17, 2022

Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Speech to U.N. General Assembly, 2022

The focus of Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s first speech at the UN was a political weather report of Israel’s relations with Arab neighbors. He lauded Arab states for embracing Israel, hoped that Israel could move toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians, and blistered the hate spewing from Hamas and Iran; Israel he said, would not tolerate Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Documents and Sources|September 22, 2022

Abba Eban, 1915-2002

A native of Cape Town, South Africa, who was raised in England and made aliyah in 1944, Eban was a diplomat, politician and writer. With the Jewish Agency’s U.N. delegation, he was heavily involved in…

Biographies|August 31, 2022

Eliahu Elath, 1903-1990

A Ukraine-born journalist, politician and diplomat, Elath arrived in the Land of Israel in 1924, joined the Jewish Agency in 1934, and became Israel’s first ambassador to the United States and, when the diplomatic post…

Biographies|August 31, 2022

Israel On Board: Declaration of Independence (4:48)

Israel’s Declaration of Independence which was issued by David Ben-Gurion in Tel-Aviv on May 14, 1948 was drafted by a small committee. This video highlights the similarities and differences between the Israeli and American declarations of independence and outlines the Israeli Declaration’s contents including the state’s intentions towards its citizens, the historical connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, and the right of the Jewish people to determination.

Explainer Videos|May 9, 2019

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — Containing Iran’s Access to Nuclear Weapons

Under the deal between Iran and five world powers, Iran agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars of sanctions relief. Israel called the deal too lenient. On May 8, 2018, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA, calling it one of the “worst and most one-sided” agreements in U.S. history. Israel’s objectives in attacking Iran in June 2025 focused on the same central features Israel argued a decade earlier were not sufficiently addressed in the JCPOA.

Ken Stein, “The U.S. Role in Palestinian Self-Determination”

Many in the Arab world and amongst Palestinian leaders believe that, for the sake of evenhandedness and justice, the U.S. government, a longtime supporter of Israel’s security and existence, should have openly endorsed and urged others to vote for the proposition of Palestinian state recognition at the United Nations. Criticism of the U.S. failing to do so has been harsh, but it is also without perspective or historical context. What is forgotten is the persistent, even aggressive, perhaps unprecedented role that Washington has played in pushing for Palestinian rights, self-determination and, most recently, for Palestinian statehood.