From the main stage, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer addressed the 2026 JNS International Policy Conference, reaffirming UN Watch’s mission to confront antisemitism, defend human rights, and bring truth and accountability to the United Nations.

Full Remarks:

Friends, thank you for the very warm reception here in Jerusalem. I’m coming here from the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where, when I walk into the room, I get an altogether very different kind of reception. So I’m glad to make the adjustment.

I was supposed to be here on stage today with Ambassador Danny Danon, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, but he was unable to attend because he had to participate in an important meeting at the United Nations. You may have seen the video of a clash that occurred during a meeting on sexual violence in conflict. Ambassador Danon was calling out the latest disgraceful report by the UN Secretary-General, in which Israel was placed on the same blacklist as the Hamas terrorist organization and falsely accused of systematic sexual violence through the IDF.

As he spoke, he was suddenly interrupted by one of the Secretary-General’s representatives, Vanessa Frazier, the former Ambassador of Malta who now serves as the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict. The exchange went viral online. One of the debates afterward was whether she had the right to interrupt him.

A website called Security Council Procedure claimed that she did. Of course, that was false. A UN staff member has no right to interrupt a member state. I responded on Twitter to this account, which is supposed to be an expert source on UN procedure. I said that, from personal experience, I have been condemned personally hundreds of times at the United Nations, and I have never had the right to intervene. Only a member state can interrupt on a point of order.

Soon afterward, the account deleted all of its tweets on the issue. Why do I mention this? Because it is indicative of a broader problem. The Secretary-General’s representative broke clear procedure in order to interrupt the State of Israel—something they would never do to any other state. They would never interrupt China, Qatar, Russia, Pakistan, or Venezuela. Yet when it comes to Israel, they do.

You know, António Guterres is the same man who, just two weeks after October 7, came before the United Nations and said, “Yes, I condemn the attacks of October 7.” But he also said it was important to note that the attacks “did not happen in a vacuum.” He then went on to enumerate numerous alleged Palestinian grievances against Israel.

Effectively, António Guterres was justifying the attacks of October 7. But, not everything he said was wrong. When he said the attacks did not happen in a vacuum, that was true. Nothing any of us did today happened in a vacuum. Everything is influenced by our surroundings, our culture, and the people around us.

But if Mr. Guterres had even a smidgen of self-reflection, he might have asked who educated the Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7 and committed atrocities. Who taught them?

According to former UNRWA legal advisor Johann Soufi, 90 percent of those in Gaza attended UNRWA schools. UNRWA schools did not happen in a vacuum. You’re right, Mr. Guterres—the attacks did not happen in a vacuum. The perpetrators of those atrocities were graduates of your education system, graduates of your schools.

Let me share a few words about our battles against terrorism and antisemitism at the United Nations.

I mentioned UNRWA. It was recently reported that UNRWA finally fired 70 staff members over terror links. They said they were not acknowledging wrongdoing, but let me say a word about what we have been exposing over the past decade, and especially over the past few years.

UNRWA has been funded by all the Western countries—the EU countries, Canada, Australia, and others. We have been funding UNRWA with billions and billions of dollars. Yet after seven decades, they have not resettled a single Palestinian. Quite the opposite.

To quote former Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, it is a “perverse logic. We are perpetuating the conflict.”

UNRWA has a pathological purpose: to keep Palestinians in a state of dependency, grievance, and war against Israel, teaching them that their mission is to dismantle Israel through the so-called “right of return.” Those who invaded Israel on October 7 believed they were exercising that right, exactly as they had been taught in UNRWA schools.

UNRWA tells European taxpayers that it teaches UN values, human rights, and human dignity. But who are the teachers?

Last year, in our report Schools in the Grip of Terror, we exposed the fact that the head of the teachers’ union in Gaza, Suhail al-Hindi—a teacher for 30 years, a school principal, and the head of 8,000 UNRWA teachers funded by Western taxpayers—was a member of the Hamas politburo. He still is. You can see photographs of him with Yahya Sinwar.

So the head of the teachers’ union, a teacher and school principal, was on the Hamas politburo that planned the October 7 attacks.

Go to Lebanon. A year and a half ago, Fathi al-Sharif, head of the UNRWA teachers’ union there, was killed in an IDF strike. He had spent 30 years as a teacher and school principal in UNRWA schools funded by Western donors. On the day he was killed, Hamas announced that Israel had killed one of its leaders.

I’m not telling you that he was a Hamas leader. Hamas said it. Hamas said Fathi al-Sharif, the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, was the head of Hamas in Lebanon. They released videos showing him with Ismail Haniyeh and accompanied by Hamas bodyguards.

When the Secretary-General’s spokesman was asked how it was possible that the head of a UNRWA teachers’ union was also the head of Hamas, he replied that when an underground militant group operates underground, it is difficult to know.

How could they know? In the report we released—more than 100 pages long—we answered that question. They could have known because he announced it every day. On his public Facebook page, open for the entire world to see, Fathi al-Sharif regularly posted support for Hamas, photographs with terrorists, images from Hamas funerals, and celebrations of terrorist attacks.

Everybody knew.

Philippe Lazzarini is about to retire as head of UNRWA, and we will demand his indictment for complicity in war crimes, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. He cannot claim he did not know. He knew, and we have the receipts.

I am happy to say that the United States government has now defunded UNRWA. The United States used to provide $400 million a year. Today, that figure is zero. Sweden has also ended funding worth tens of millions of dollars.

But the battle continues. France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other European countries are still funding an agency that, in the words of Secretary Rubio, is “an arm of Hamas.” If we want peace in this region, if we want deradicalization, it begins and ends with UNRWA.

Let me now say a word about the UN Human Rights Council, which is meeting as we speak.

Today, Reem Alsalem of Jordan, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women—and also one of the most prominent deniers of violence against Israeli women—is presenting her latest report. Among other things, it accuses Israel of genocide. I hope someone confronts her. We’ll see what happens. Stay tuned.

But let me say a word about the other rapporteurs before I conclude.

UN rapporteurs are supposed to be the crown jewels of the UN system: independent human rights experts. A week or two ago, we released a report titled From Watchdogs to Ideologues, documenting how UN rapporteurs have politicized and subverted the human rights system.

We found that George Katrougalos, the UN expert on a democratic and equitable international order, received $100,000 from the Chinese Communist Party. This is documented in UN records that we uncovered.

In the same year, he attended a propaganda event in Greece promoting a book by Xi Jinping and praised Xi’s vision. While receiving funding from China, he never criticizes China. Instead, he attacks Israel daily and accuses it of genocide.

Another rapporteur is Ben Saul, professor of law at the University of Sydney and the UN Special Rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights. He received $150,000 from the Chinese Communist regime.

Despite China’s detention of more than a million Uyghurs under the banner of counterterrorism, he has never spoken out against it. Instead, while receiving Chinese funding, he repeatedly condemns Israel. He accuses American leaders of criminal conduct and calls for their arrest.

Then there is Alena Douhan, the UN Special Rapporteur on sanctions. She received $1.3 million from China, Russia, and Qatar while producing reports that praised China, Russia, Qatar, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Syria, and Iran—regimes she portrayed as victims of sanctions.

Finally, I will mention one rapporteur you all know well: Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories.

She has said that America is controlled by the Jewish lobby. After October 7, she defended Hamas by insisting there was a “context.” Every few minutes on social media, she echoes some of the worst blood libels against Israel and serves as one of the leading promoters of the genocide libel.

We are fighting back.

We exposed her hateful remarks. She is now the first UN rapporteur in history to be condemned by France, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Hungary, the United States, Latvia, Estonia, and many other countries.

Every condemnation matters.

We led a campaign that gathered 120,000 signatures urging Secretary Rubio to take action. When the UN failed to act, Secretary Rubio announced that, for the first time in history, the United States would sanction a UN official.

On July 9, Francesca Albanese became the first UN rapporteur ever sanctioned by the United States.

No more lectures at Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, or Columbia. She is barred from entering the United States. She cannot use American financial systems. She cannot receive payments through them.

In her own words, the sanctions have been “devastating.” Good. Very good. It sends a message of deterrence.

After she was sanctioned, her husband, who works for the World Bank and has echoed her incitement, was demoted from his position. Shortly afterward, Navi Pillay, head of the Commission of Inquiry against Israel, resigned. We heard that she was concerned about the possibility of sanctions affecting her ability to enter the United States.

Friends, we face a steep uphill battle. Whether it is UNRWA or the UN rapporteurs, we are not going to give up.

We are going to keep fighting the haters.

The United Nations was founded on genuine principles of human rights. We are going to uphold those principles.

I want to conclude by recalling what the Lubavitcher Rebbe told Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s. He said:

“You are entering a house of darkness. Your mission is to light a candle of truth.”

That is exactly what we are going to do. And we are not going to give up.

Thank you very much.

“You're right, Secretary General António Guterres. The attacks of October 7th ‘did not happen in a vacuum.’ The U.N. taught the Hamas terrorists that committed atrocities. They were graduates of your UNRWA schools.”

— Hillel Neuer at the 2026 @JNS_org International Policy Summit pic.twitter.com/orOzI7Ptmz

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) June 24, 2026

The post Hillel Neuer Exposes U.N. Bias at JNS International Policy Conference appeared first on UN Watch.

SHARE: YouTube | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

During a rare review of Egypt’s human rights record, Hillel Neuer took the floor in the United Nations debate to call out Cairo’s hypocrisy on Gaza, and its awful practices on political prisoners. Where others were silent, UN Watch told the truth. 

United Nations Human Rights Council, July 2, 2025:

Egyptian Ambassador Alaa Hegazy:  “The Egyptian Constitution enshrines human rights, principles, and fundamental freedoms as the foundation of the political system…”

Hillel Neuer: “Mr. Chair,  Egypt claimed that it respects the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. If so, why is it holding 60,000 political prisoners?  

Why did it create the Supreme State Security Prosecution, ostensibly to punish terrorism, but which has been mostly used to target human rights activists, to crush free speech? 

The latest victim is activist Dalia Ziada. The Public Prosecutor accuses her of high treason. Her crime? She publicly condemned the Hamas massacre of October 7th.  We ask Egypt: Is this respect for civil and political rights? 

In today’s report, Egypt speaks about its commitment to refugees. Last week, Egypt told this Council that Gaza is suffering one of the greatest humanitarian crises in modern history. So Egypt claims to care about the people of Gaza. But is this true?

Let us consider.

When Hamas launched the invasion, they subjected two million people in Gaza to war and suffering.

Egypt, you used to occupy Gaza for 19 years until 1967, which is just next door. You have massive empty land in the Sinai.

When appeals were made for you to temporarily grant asylum to the innocent civilians of Gaza, why did you say no? 

If weeks after Russia’s invasion, Poland welcomed 1.3 million Ukrainians; if in the last two years, 3 million Sudanese were taken in by their neighbors; Turkey took in 3.7 million Syrians; then we ask you:  Egypt, why haven’t you shown the same basic humanity for your neighbors, for your own Arab and Muslim brothers? 

If you care for the people of Gaza, why won’t you offer them temporary asylum, as so many other nations in this room have done for their neighbors facing a humanitarian emergency? 

Now, the masses were abandoned. But you did allow some to cross your sealed border. But why did you force these refugees to pay thousands of dollars—and why to a company linked to Egyptian state security and your president, al-Sisi—profiting over $100 million off their desperation? 

Do you really care for the people of Gaza?”

I took the floor at the United Nations during a rare review of Egypt’s human rights record: Why is Egypt holding 60,000 political prisoners? Why are they prosecuting activist @DaliaZiada for the crime of condemning Hamas? Why are they abandoning and oppressing Gazans? pic.twitter.com/BLrnq4jaxs

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) July 3, 2025

The post Hillel Neuer Blasts Egypt at the UN: “Do you really care for the people of Gaza?” appeared first on UN Watch.

On Friday May 16, 2025, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan stepped down “temporarily” following allegations he sexually assaulted his female employee on multiple occasions, as reported in last week’s Wall Street Journal. Khan is suspected of indicting Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defense Minister in order to divert attention from these serious allegations of sexual misconduct.

UN Watch’s Executive Director, Hillel Neuer, reacted to these latest developments during his visit to The Hague in the Netherlands:

Hey everyone, it’s Hillel Neuer , and I’m standing here at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

On Monday, a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that the ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan abruptly decided to target Israeli leaders with arrest warrants just when he learned that he was about to be accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting his female employee.

By going after Israel he knew this would make him untouchable. This isn’t justice. It’s corruption at the highest levels of international law. Karim Khan weaponized the ICC. He destroyed its legitimacy to attack Israel to appease enemies of the Jewish state, all to distract from his personal crimes.

The U.S. was right to sanction Karim Khan after he went rogue. And now, at the United Nations, there’s another official who has gone rogue: Francesca Albanese. She uses her UN imprimatur to tell lies about Israel to fan the flames of antisemitism around the globe.

But we’ve made the case that her supposed reappointment last month was tainted and is legally null and void. The U.S. Government must act. We’re calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to:
1. Deny Albanese a visa.
2. Strip her of immunity.
3. Sanction her — just like Karim Khan.

Join our campaign. Tell Secretary Rubio to #BanAlbanese by signing and sharing our petition and by sending a letter to him of your own.

The post Hillel Neuer on Karim Khan: “This Isn’t Justice. It’s Corruption. He Weaponized the ICC.” appeared first on UN Watch.

Hillel Neuer recorded a podcast episode with O Antagonista, a leading Brazilian independent investigative journalism platform with millions of followers across social media, to discuss the failures of the UN Human Rights Council and the rise of antisemitism. See selection below.

O Antagonista: Is there any country in which the Human Rights Council is doing a good job at protecting human rights?

Hillel Neuer: From time to time, if the United States, the European countries, Canada, and Australia mobilize, and if there isn’t sufficient resistance from the dictatorships, then on rare occasions, they can take action. But most of the world’s worst abusers get a free pass.

There has been zero resolutions, zero commissions of inquiry, zero monitors, or special rapporteurs appointed on China. Pakistan has never been addressed. Egypt has thousands of political prisoners and has never been addressed. Cuba is a police state where young protesters were thrown into prison and there may be hundreds of political prisoners. Yet, zero resolutions. The majority of countries of worst abusers are never addressed.

O Antagonista: After October 7th, 2023, we witnessed a rise of antisemitism around the world. How can we do something in a country so that antisemitism doesn’t come back like what happened before the Holocaust?

Hillel Neuer: We need to recognize that antisemitism is not only a problem that hurts Jews, but also hurts the rest of society. A society that begins scapegoating the Jews—things do not go well. You know, we saw it with Germany. What began with antisemitism destroyed the country. We’ve seen it with other regimes over time.

It’s a madness—a pathology—that turns the country away from looking at its own problems. It’s a way of saying, “We’re not going to look at our problems. We’re going to find a traditional scapegoat.” That doesn’t end well for anybody.

The post Hillel Neuer on O Antagonista: “The world’s worst abusers of human rights get a free pass at the UN” appeared first on UN Watch.

Hillel Neuer appeared on Fox News with Rich Edson to discuss the dangers of negotiating with Iran’s fanatical Islamist regime over their nuclear program.

Rich Edson, Fox News: While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders Israeli troops to increase attacks on Hamas in Gaza, the U.S. and Iran held a second round of nuclear talks in Rome. Let’s bring in foreign policy analyst and United Nations Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. Hillel, thank you for joining us this afternoon.

Part of these discussions with the United States—we’ve heard really two different types of demands from the US. One, Iran might be able to keep a nuclear program as long as it’s monitored. The other, you’ve got to do away with it all. Where is the U.S. on this, and what’s it going to take to get a deal done?

Hillel Neuer: Look, there are a lot of concerns by Iranians who are opposed to this regime, and others around the world who are aware of what this regime is capable of, of where the administration is going. You identified exactly the issue. At one point, negotiator Steve Witkoff said, we’d be willing to allow the regime to have a certain amount of enrichment of uranium—which leads to a nuclear weapon—but a certain amount we would allow them. And afterwards, when there were protests and opposition and criticism, he said, “No, no, we want dismantlement.”

Look, let’s recognize the simple truth: that this regime is a fanatical Islamist regime which is not negotiating for peace. They’re negotiating to buy time. The regime has never been weaker. The people are impoverished. Sixty percent of the people are living below the poverty line. The regime has no legitimacy. They have no air defenses. Israel eliminated most of their air defenses several months ago. In many ways, the regime is a sitting duck. The currency is at an all-time low. So the regime is at one of the lowest points in history.

There is a fear that the administration, by going with these talks—we just had round two, there’s going to be another round, there’s talk about two months of negotiations—all of that buys valuable time for this regime. And there’s a question on whether Witkoff, you know, what is his goal? Is it, as you said, dismantlement? That would be one thing. That’s the Libyan model: complete dismantlement. Or is it allowing the regime to always have that, you know, proximity to the bomb?

Rich Edson, Fox News: If it is that second option—if Iran can still enrich uranium, albeit at a much lower level—isn’t that basically the deal that Obama struck with Iran and that the Trump administration got out of in 2018?

Hillel Neuer: Well, you know, I think many critics are saying exactly that. President Trump, you called out the Obama deal as something that only benefited the regime. You called for maximum pressure. That worked. The maximum pressure in the Trump first term worked.

These fanatical mullahs, they really do believe America is the Great Satan. They believe Israel is the Great Satan. They’ve spent billions of dollars of their people’s money—this is a very impoverished population—because billions of dollars were sent to terrorist groups: Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Shiite militias in Syria, the Syrian regime, Shiite militias in Iraq.

This is a regime that wants to destroy, dominate, terrorize their neighbors, including Israel. They hate America. This is their DNA. This is what Ayatollah Khomeini was there for. And Trump called them out. Gave them maximum pressure. When they felt the hurt—economic pressure, diplomatic pressure, strategic pressure—they responded.

And there’s a fear that we’re getting Obama 2.0. And is that what President Trump is signing up for? I don’t think that’s what President Trump wants. And I think he has to recognize—I think he understands it—that this regime understands pressure only. And let’s be honest: any deal, certainly if it’s a weak deal, is a lifeline to this regime. It gives them huge amounts of legitimacy. So let’s be wary of negotiations that are only benefiting the regime.

Rich Edson, Fox News: Round three comes up in just a week. Hillel Neuer, thanks so much for your perspective. Very much appreciate it.

The post Hillel Neuer on Fox News: “The fanatical Islamist regime of Iran has never been weaker.” appeared first on UN Watch.

Interview with Hillel Neuer

By Paulo Rosenbaum

Estadão: Can you please tell our readers about your academic and professional career, your main motivations and what led you to become an internationally recognized human rights expert?

Hillel Neuer: I grew up in Montreal, Canada, raised in a strong Jewish home and in a Jewish school, and enriched by a neighborhood where cultures mixed easily—my neighbors were Chinese, Greek, Italian and Jamaican. I was always surrounded by different voices, different stories. That shaped my sense of the world early on.

My father worked as a lawyer for people who could not afford one. Many of my grandparents’ family members were murdered in the Holocaust. My home was full of books, debates, and stories—some joyful, some tragic, but all rooted in a deep awareness of history and justice. I knew injustice wasn’t theoretical—it was personal. From early on, I understood that freedom isn’t a guarantee—it’s something people lose, fight for, and often never get back.

At Concordia University in Montreal, along with my major in political science, I studied a great books program of philosophy, literature and art history, from the ancient Greeks until modernity. I fell in love with the big questions—what makes a society free? Why do some regimes collapse and others endure?

From there, I went on to law school at McGill, and encountered a great influence on my life and work, Professor Irwin Cotler, Canada’s former Justice Minister and one of the world’s most respected human rights lawyers. I took every course he taught and worked as his research assistant. But his impact began even earlier: I first saw him as a child, leading a protest in Montreal for the freedom of Jewish political prisoners in the Soviet Union. His passion, clarity, and moral courage left a lasting impression. In class, he didn’t just teach law—he made it feel like a calling. He challenged us to imagine leading a human rights organization. At the time, I thought it was just an exercise. But less than ten years later, I found myself doing exactly that. Cotler didn’t just teach generations of students—he inspired us to act, to speak out, and to believe that law, when guided by conscience, could truly change lives.

I then did graduate work on comparative constitutional law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Along the way, I clerked at Israel’s Supreme Court, then practiced law in New York at a major firm. I worked on civil rights cases—including one involving racial discrimination in the U.S. military. That opened my eyes to how legal tools could be used to fight injustice, even inside powerful institutions.

But honestly, I always had a foot in advocacy. As a teenager, I wrote an article for my school paper criticizing the UN for its double standards. I was maybe 15. Years later, when I heard there was an opening at a small NGO in Geneva called UN Watch, I took a leap—and that leap became my life’s work.

At UN Watch, we stand up for people most of the world ignores—political prisoners in Venezuela, jailed women’s rights heroes in Iran, democracy activists from Hong Kong, whistleblowers from Russia. We’re a tiny team, but we amplify voices that authoritarian regimes try to silence.

One of our most important platforms is the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, where we bring oppressed dissidents from around the world—Uyghur survivors, North Korean defectors, Cuban artists—and give them the microphone.

Sometimes we’re the only ones saying what everyone else is afraid to say. When Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza was imprisoned for calling Putin a war criminal, we fought hard to keep his name in the public eye. When he was finally freed, he told us it made a difference—knowing people on the outside hadn’t forgotten him.

Or when I stood up in Geneva and denounced the UN for electing dictatorships like China and Cuba to the Human Rights Council. They tried to silence me. They cut my mic. But we didn’t stop—and our speeches have now been seen by millions online.

This work isn’t easy. It’s not always popular. And yes, I am the most hated man at the UN—but that’s fine. Because if the regimes in Tehran, Pyongyang, and Caracas are upset with me—along with some so-called activists from the West who are apologists for terrorists and anti-Western regimes—then I know I’m doing something right. At the end of the day, I do this because I believe in the power of truth—and in the idea that one voice, even a small one, can still make a difference.

Estadão: Which countries currently face the greatest challenges in relation to the most important violations of human rights and how do you see the actions of international organizations in relation to monitoring such violations? Is there effectiveness in investigating the complaints?

Hillel Neuer: Sadly, the the best indication of where to find the worst human rights abuses is to look at the world body that is meant to be investigating them: the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council. The members today include, for example, China, Cuba, Qatar, Sudan, and Vietnam.

That’s right: China’s Communist regime is a member. China is oppressing 1.5 billion people, a fifth of humanity, yet it has never once been criticized by any UN Human Rights Council resolution, inquiry, or special session. On the contrary, they sit on that body as a judge.

So my organization decided, at our recent 17th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy—which we held right across the street from the Council headquarters in Geneva, and with our opening event held inside the UN headquarters itself—that the world needed to know the truth about China.

So we invited Times Wang as a witness. His father Wang Biingzhang is the father of the Chinese pro-democracy movement. They kidnapped him in June 2002, and he’s been languishing in prison for over two decades.

The world needs to know what China is doing to the Uyghurs. Rounding them up in camps. Attempting to eradicate their entire culture. So we also invited Rahima Mahmut, a Uyghur human rights activist, as one of our speakers.

The world needs to know what China is doing to the people of Tibet. Also trying to destroy their culture. So we had with us Namkyi as a witness. For protesting China’s oppression at the age of 15 they threw her in prison. She was there for three years. She managed to escape. She walked non-stop for 10 days and escaped to India.
And the world needs to know what the Chinese Communist Party is doing to Hong Kong. Once a great island of freedom in Asia, its democracy has been strangled by Beijing. So we invited Sebastien Lai to bear witness about his father Jimmy Lai, publisher of a major pro-democracy newspaper. A very successful man, Jimmy Lai could have escaped abroad, but he said no. He chose not to abandon ship, to stay with his people. They threw him in prison. He’s 77 years old.

Another regime sitting as a judge on the UNHRC is the police state of Cuba. The world needs to know what the Havana dictatorship is doing to its people. So we invited Osiris Puerto Terry. He happened to be standing next to the historic pro-democracy protests in July 2021, and he got shot multiple times.

Sudan also sits on the UNHRC. The world needs to know the truth about the war there that has just killed 150,000 people. 11 million people forced from their homes. So we invited Niemat Ahmadi, a leading women’s rights defender from Sudan, a survivor of the Sudan Genocide.

Vietnam sits on the UNHRC. A one-party Communist regime, the world needs to know about they silence all dissent including on social media. So we invited Van Trang Nguyen, who was targeted by the regime for his pro-democracy activism.

It’s hard to imagine, but Qatar, a country that sponsors terrorists and misogynistic regimes, is also sitting at the Human Rights Council. They throw money around, millions of dollars to all the international agencies, and the directors love to meet with them. Yet Qatar supports terrorists and misogynistic regimes, like the Taliban in Afghanistan.

At the United Nations, shockingly some want to normalize and recognize the Taliban. Listen to the words of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Muhammad from a little over a year ago : “I hope there is a day that we do recognize this government.”

So we invited Dr. Massouda Jalal, the pediatrician who served as Afghan Minister of Women’s Affairs, and her daughter, Husna Jalal, both of them now exiled, to tell the world about how women are treated under the Taliban. For their courageous leadership, thet received our Women’s Rights Award.

Eritrea just completed six years on the Council. In New York, they sit on the UN committee that oversees Human Rights NGOs. The world needs to know about the dictator, the country’s first and only president since 1993; he’s president for life. So we invited Betlehem Isaak, to tell us about her father Dawit Isaak, the world’s longest detained journalist, taken away in 2001, 24 years ago, for supporting democratic reform.

Astonishingly, in 2023, the Chair of the UN Human Rights Council Social Forum, was the Islamic Republic of Iran. The world needs to know who this regime is. So we brought three vitcims from Iran. We heard from Mahan Mehrabi, whose brother Mahmoud was arrested for taking part in the “Woman Life Freedom” protests. In May, he was sentenced to death – for the crime of criticizing the government on social media. And we heard testimony from Saman Pouryaghma—for protesting, the regime shot him in the eye.

In addition, there are regimes that for many years were sitting on the UNHRC, for example one of the world’s most powerful dictatorships: Russia under Vladimir Putin. So just six weeks ago, we invited as a witness a hero who recently got out of the Russian gulag: Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition leader, author, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, historian, and documentary filmmaker.

Because he spoke out against Putin, they tried to kill him by poisoning in 2015, and again in 2017. He barely survived. He went back to Russia. He spoke out against the regime. In April 2022, after he called Putin a war criminal, they took him away. They sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason. He was languishing in a Siberian gulag, in solitary confinement, his health deteriorating. His wife Evgenia went around the world, tirelessly fighting for his release. We brought her several times to the United Nations. By a miracle, in August, Vladimir was released, and we got to see them both reunited at our Geneva Summit.

In Venezuela, also a former longtime UNHRC member, the dictator Nicolas Maduro destroyed the country, causing more than 7 million people to flee. He had been on the Human Rights Council for many years.

Last July, with the support of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Edmundo González decided to run for President. The world knows that he won. Maduro lied and made up fake results. The world knows that Mr. Gonzalez won. The regime has now kidnapped his son-in-law. He lives in exile but he continues to speak out. We had the honor to hear testimony from both Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González, when we presented them with the 2025 Courage Award. UN Watch is committed to supporting these and other courageous heroes worldwide who are fighting to free their peoples from dictatorship and repression.

Estadão: What are your suggestions for changing/modifying the evident ideological and political bias of the mechanisms/institutions that monitor human rights?

Hillel Neuer: At the end of the day, our individual governments need to show backbone at the United Nations. Sadly, the reality today is that the representatives of our democracies too often just “go along to get along.” They go along, for example, with the election of the Islamic Republic of Iran—one of the world’s most misogynistic regimes—to the UN Women’s Rights Commission.

Only when we exposed that obscenity, and after a two-year campaign, did we succeed in finally expelling Iran from that body. The US under Biden initially wouldn’t comment, but eventually under pressure, and especially after the “Women Life Freedom” protests broke out, did they change their position. In the end, the US used our idea, and convened an unprecedented special session of the UN to remove the Ayatollahs from the women’s rights commission. So this is what we need others to do as well: France, Germany, Canada, actually taking a principled stand at the UN. Only then will we have credible multilateralism.

Estadão: How was the process of founding and developing the prestigious organization UN WATCH, and what challenges have you faced so far? How do you envision the future of the organization and what are your proposals to make it increasingly well-known and efficient, not only within the UN, but in the observation of other organizations?

Hillel Neuer: The organization was established in 1993 by the legendary civil rights activist Morris Abram, who had previously served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva and was a key figure in the civil rights movement. I had the honor of joining UN Watch in 2004 and have been its executive director ever since.

When I came on board, UN Watch was already a respected voice for holding the UN accountable to its own principles. But we’ve worked hard over the years to grow our impact—both within the UN system and far beyond it.

Our world changed around 2007, with the advent of both YouTube and the UN beginning to video-record the debates. We saw the potential of this oportunity.

If millions worldwide know of and admire UN Watch and the cause for which we fight, it is almost entirely because of our speeches at the United Nations.

The ability of our organization to speak at the United Nations is a golden opportunity to be a voice on the world stage for constituencies that feel unrepresented and wronged. This is true for Israel’s right to be treated equally and to defend itself against terrorists, and for victims of human rights abuses worldwide, who are otherwise largely ignored.

Words matter. Speeches delivered in the assembly of nations have the immense power to inspire, educate and mobilize millions, rallying people to a cause, like a flag.

To date, UN Watch videos have achieved 60 million views on Youtube alone, and millions more on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. No other organizations in our field of comparable or even larger size have managed to achieve this feat.

One of our biggest challenges has been the imbalance and politicization we often see at the UN, where some of the worst human rights violators manage to get elected to bodies like the Human Rights Council. In that environment, telling the truth can be unpopular—but it’s absolutely necessary.

We’ve met those challenges by shining a spotlight on the voices that are too often silenced—dissidents from Iran, Venezuela, Russia, China, and elsewhere. We’ve also taken our message beyond the UN, reaching millions through speeches, social media, and international media coverage. One of my personal goals has been to make human rights real and relatable, not just abstract resolutions and reports.

The incredible personal testimonies from dissidents that we bring to the UN and to the world, day in and day out, are essential.

And our work is being recognized. In 2018, McGill University awarded me with an honorary doctorate for our work to advance human rights, and for being “a voice for those without one,” for being “an innovator in creating global platforms for courageous dissidents and champions of human rights from around the world,” and for being “a passionate advocate for human rights, fighting tirelessly against discrimination, torture, and injustice.”

Looking ahead, I want to see UN Watch become even more effective in defending victims and exposing double standards. We’re expanding our research, training a new generation of human rights advocates, and strengthening partnerships with like-minded groups around the world. I believe in combining the moral clarity of truth-telling with the strategic focus needed to actually make change.

Ultimately, our mission remains simple—and urgent: to stand up for the universal principles that the UN was founded to protect, and to make sure those in power are held accountable when they betray them.

Estadão: Combating human rights violations involves improving and training information control mechanisms. In this sense, how do you evaluate the role of social media in three aspects: speed at which information is disseminated, quality of information and combating disinformation. And what do you suggest as an approach to traditional media? What is your opinion on the role of social media in reporting on human rights violations? Do you notice that there is a lack of interest in mainstream media in addressing the issue?

Hillel Neuer: Social media is an essential tool for our organization. We no longer need to rely on the gatekeepers in the major media, which is ultimately a small group of people, many of whom share the same worldview. Twitter, Instagram and YouTube have enabled us to communicate our message to millions directly. Of course, coverage by mainstream media is very important as well, as they are major platforms, and they provide gravitas and legitimacy.

At the same time, there is no question that social media has dangers. In the past, there were some checks before a story would be reported in a well-known newspaper. On social media, anyone can make up a story, and this is used effectively by Russia, China, Iran, and Hamas. We need to be aware of propaganda, and there is a lot of it. Make sure you follow and trust only people or institutions who have proven their commitment to facts, integrity and truth.

Estadão: What is your reading of the current conflict triggered by Hamas’ terrorist acts and how do you imagine the events of 10/7 will impact the future not only in the Middle East, but throughout the world.

Hillel Neuer: The October 7th massacre changed everything. It wasn’t just an attack. It was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust—children, women, and grandparents who were kidnapped, tortured, assaulted, and slaughtered, with entire communities destroyed.
It exposed the true face of Hamas: a genocidal terror group that doesn’t want peace, only Israel’s destruction. This was not about borders or negotiations. It was about hatred, pure and simple.

The impact is global. First, it shattered illusions. Many believed Hamas could be “managed” or “contained.” No more. Israelis now know they must dismantle Hamas to survive.

Second, it forced the world to choose sides. You’re either against terror, or you’re making excuses for it. Sadly, we saw universities and even some UN officials justify or downplay the atrocities. That was a moral collapse.
Third, it sparked a wave of antisemitism worldwide. Jewish schools, synagogues, and students are under attack—not because of anything they did, but simply for being Jewish. That tells us October 7 wasn’t just about Israel. It was a wake-up call for the free world.

The lesson is this: appeasing terror only invites more terror. Just like ISIS or Al-Qaeda, Hamas must be defeated. Otherwise, others will follow their example.
Israel is fighting not only for itself, but for the values of the civilized world.

Estadão: We know that anti-Semitic demonstrations began to occur even before Israel’s retaliation against the terrorists in Gaza. It seems clear that there is still structural anti-Semitism/anti-Zionism in Western societies. In your opinion, how was this possible considering that only 8 decades have passed since the Shoah?

Hillel Neuer: It’s shocking, but not surprising.

Even before Israel responded to Hamas, we saw people on Western streets celebrating the slaughter. Not protesting—celebrating. Chanting “glory to the martyrs” while Jews were still burying their dead.

How is this possible, 80 years after the Holocaust? Because the lessons of “Never Again” were never truly learned.

After 1945, antisemitism didn’t vanish. It just changed form. Today, hating Jews is often disguised as hating the Jewish state. That’s why people chant “from the river to the sea”—it’s not a call for peace, it’s a call to erase Israel.

Much of the problem comes from universities, media, and international institutions. They’ve promoted a worldview where Jews are cast as “colonizers,” and terror groups are seen as “resistance.” Facts don’t matter—ideology does.

And let’s be honest: antisemitism is the world’s oldest hatred. It adapts. In the Middle Ages, they said Jews poisoned the wells. Today, they say Jews poison global politics, that the Jewish state is the world’s ultimate violator of human rights, the arch-criminal, a racist state. It’s the same lie in a new form.

And all of this against the only liberal democracy in the benighted Middle East, a multi-cultural society which is the only place in the region where millions of Arabs and Muslims can actually vote and be elected in free and fair elections, and enjoy basic human rights like freedom of speech, assembly and religion.

October 7 didn’t create antisemitism—it exposed it. Loud and clear. The challenge now is whether the West has the courage to stand against it.

Estadão: There is a systematic attitude by much of the media that has been directly affecting Jews around the world. I cite the scandalous coverage by the BBC and other international media outlets buying into Hamas’ version of events, which fraudulently blamed the country for the attack on the Gaza’s Shifa hospital when it was the result of an erratic missile fired by Islamic jihad. Mobs against Jews in Dagestan and Amsterdam. Interruption of diplomatic meetings and threats, physical intimidation and violent attacks at American universities. And against all demographic evidence, the unfounded accusations of genocide. How do you see the role of the media and the international press in inflating the accusations against Israel?

Yes, in this regard one could say the media has blood on its hands. On October 17, when a rocket hit the Al-Ahli hospital parking lot in Gaza, Hamas rushed to blame Israel. No evidence. No verification. But major outlets— BBC, New York Times, Al Jazeera—ran with the lie. As did Amnesty International. Days later, we saw mobs in Dagestan chanting “death to Jews” as they stormed the airport, hunting on the tarmac for Israeli passengers whose plane had just landed. Jews were targeted in cities across Europe, and in U.S. universities.

The actual truth came out quickly: it was an Islamic Jihad rocket, fired from within Gaza. But the damage was done. The correction never catches up to the headline. This is a pattern. When it comes to Israel, much of the media suspends skepticism. They treat terrorist propaganda as “eyewitness testimony.” They amplify blood libels—then move on, while Jews pay the price.

And now, absurd claims of “genocide” are being parroted on front pages and at the UN, even as Israel provided advance warning to civilians, opens humanitarian corridors, and has 59 hostages still being held and tortured by Hamas. Instead of exposing terrorism, too many journalists are laundering its narrative.

The press should hold power to account—not act as a megaphone for murderers.

Estadão: Do you consider disinformation to be the weapon against which we have the least know-how to defend ourselves in the 21st century? How can we prevent bias against Israel, and how can we encourage healthy journalism to counteract disinformation campaigns based on prejudice and ideology?

Hillel Neuer: Yes—disinformation is the 21st century’s most powerful weapon. It’s cheap, fast, and deadly. A single tweet from a terror group can spark riots, change headlines, or trigger diplomatic crises. We saw this after the Al-Ahli hospital explosion—one false claim by Hamas, and the world erupted.

But disinformation only works when truth is weak. That’s the real danger—not just the lie, but the silence that lets it spread. How do we fight it?

We need courage. Journalists must ask hard questions—even when it’s unpopular. When Hamas makes a claim, the press should treat it with the same skepticism they’d use for any armed group. Not repeat it as fact.

And we need accountability. When outlets like the BBC or NYT publish falsehoods, they must correct them clearly—not in footnotes, but with the same energy as the original story.

Finally, we need education. Many young people today get their news from TikTok or Instagram. That’s where much of the anti-Israel bias spreads. We need to teach critical thinking. Show them how to spot propaganda. Remind them that facts matter. Disinformation thrives in silence. Truth needs defenders.

Israel is not perfect—no country is. But it deserves to be judged by facts, not by double standards or blood libels dressed up as “activism.”

Estadão: Do you think that a change in the US administration will have any positive, negative or neutral impact on combating human rights violations?

Hillel Neuer: It depends on the issue—and who’s leading. One encouraging sign is that Marco Rubio, now serving as Secretary of State, has long been a strong and principled voice on human rights. He has consistently spoken out against the abuses of Cuba, Venezuela, China, Iran, and Hamas. We trust that he will continue to call out dictators and defend dissidents.

That said, we also have concerns. President Trump has praised Vladimir Putin, even in the face of serious human rights abuses. We hope that the administration will adopt a firmer stance on Russia moving forward.

At the end of the day, defending human rights must transcend politics. What matters is whether the U.S. stands with the oppressed, not with their oppressors. We’ll be watching closely—and speaking out when needed.

Estadão: Please comment on the current role of the UN, especially in relation to the current conflict in the Middle East. In addition to the bias of Antonio Guterres’ actions, who ambiguously stated that the massacre of Jews in southern Israel claimed by the Hamas terrorist organization “did not happen in a vacuum”. And after the various evidence that UNRWA schools, including journalists accredited by international agencies, were present at the NOVA festival massacre and showed some degree of support for the terrorist activities that occurred before and after October 7th?

Hillel Neuer: The United Nations has become part of the problem. When Hamas carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, we expected moral clarity. Instead, Secretary-General Guterres stood before the world and said the Hamas massacre “did not happen in a vacuum.” He then listed alleged Palestinian grievances against Isael.

But if he actually wanted to talk about influences and causes, he should have acknowledged who educated the terrorists. He should have recognized that UNRWA, his agency in Gaza, employs numerous Hamas operatives as teachers, school principals and union leaders. UN Watch exposed hundreds of UNRWA staff members who incite violence and praise Hitler on social media.

He could have named Fathi Sharif, who oversaw 2,000 UNRWA teachers in Lebanon – while has was also a Hamas terror chief. Or Suhail al-Hindi, an UNRWA school principal who was also an elected member of the Hamas Political Bureau. Instead, Guterres said nothing about how the UN knowingly employs Hamas terrorists to run the education of Palestinians, teaching them to hate Israelis.

Worse, since October 7th, it’s been confirmed that at least twelve UNRWA employees directly participated in the massacre—some at the NOVA music festival. Others helped kidnap hostages. Some celebrated it online. These are not isolated cases. This is systemic rot.

For years, we at UN Watch warned that UNRWA was enabling extremism. We published reports, named names, and sounded the alarm. The UN and Guterres ignored us. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini accused us of “misinformation,” and pretended there was no problem with terrorists running the UN education of Gazans. Now the world sees the result.

Today, the Human Rights Council still blames Israel while staying silent on Hamas’ war crimes. The UN was created to uphold peace and dignity. But in too many ways, it has become an enabler of the very hatred it was meant to prevent.

Estadão: Henry Kissinger once ironically stated that Israel “had no foreign policy, but just domestic policy.” Finally, with all your huge experience, what would be your suggestions for redefining Israel’s communication with the world?

Hillel Neuer: Kissinger’s line still stings—because there’s truth in it.

For too long, Israel focused on surviving, not explaining. It built one of the world’s most resilient democracies, absorbed millions of immigrants, innovated in medicine, tech, and security—but didn’t always tell its story clearly. That has to change.

Today, information is the battlefield. Lies spread in seconds. Blood libels go viral. And silence is deadly.

So what should Israel do?

First, it must speak with one voice. In times of crisis, clarity and coordination are everything. Mixed messaging is a gift to those who wish to distort the facts.

Second, invest in digital diplomacy. The next generation doesn’t read newspapers—they scroll TikTok. Israel needs fluent, credible voices who can reach global audiences where they are, in their language, with empathy and facts.

Third, elevate human stories. The world needs to see not just policies, but people. When people see the human cost, hearts change.

Fourth, empower allies. Often it’s more effective when non-Israelis speak out—academics, activists, journalists, even dissidents from Arab countries or Iran. Their voices can cut through the noise.

And finally, never apologize for existing. Israel’s story is not just defensive—it’s inspiring. A tiny country, surrounded by threats, thriving in freedom. That story needs to be told with pride.

In the end, the goal isn’t just to win arguments—it’s to win understanding.

The post Hillel Neuer Interviewed in Brazil’s Leading Newspaper Estadão appeared first on UN Watch.

SHARE: Youtube | Twitter | Instagram

When Hillel Neuer slammed Qatari Ambassador Hend al-Muftah for her tweets extolling the hatred of Jews, the UNHRC Chair rebuked him for not “adhering to language commensurate with dignity.” Qatar funds terrorists, abuses women, and enslaves migrant workers.

Yet at the U.N. Human Rights Council—where Qatar’s regime is an elected member—their human rights record was praised by 90% of the speakers, including Iran, Russia, and Libya. Then Hillel Neuer took the floor.

Full Speech Transcript:

Mr. President, before us is the report on Qatar’s record. Does the cause of human rights support its adoption?

Let me read from the report:
• “Iran hailed Qatar’s global human rights initiatives.”
• “China welcomed Qatar’s National Vision.”
• “Turkey lauded Qatar’s labor reforms.”

Out of 112 statements, more than 90% shower Qatar with praise, as a champion of human rights.

But the truth, Mr. President, is the opposite.

The truth is that Qatar’s 2 million migrant workers — many still abused, unpaid, and silenced — object to this report.

The truth is that women in Qatar — who cannot marry, travel, or make critical life decisions without a male guardian — object to this report.

The truth is that victims of terrorism — Israelis murdered in their homes, hostages still held underground in Gaza, Palestinians used as human shields, who right now are protesting Qatari-funded Al Jazeera for backing Hamas — they object to this report.

Because Qatar is not a neutral player. They sponsor Hamas. Their money built terror tunnels. They hosted terror chiefs in Doha hotels.

This is a mediator? Is Qatar the firefighter? No — they are the arsonist.

Finally, in the report, Qatar boasts of winning a seat on this Council. Do their values qualify?

Let me quote their Ambassador, Hend Al-Muftah, in her own words.

She has tweeted:
• “The Jews… dominated, tyrannized and ruled the world.”
• The Ambassador accused Israel of orchestrating 9/11, claiming “Zionists” created Al-Qaeda.
• She boasted of her Qatari education, in the daily morning anthem: “We learned from a young age that the Jews are our enemies!”

Mr. President, the very principles this Council is meant to uphold — human rights, tolerance, peace — are mocked by by Qatar’s actions, its presence here, and this report.

We urge this council: Reject the whitewash. Reject this report.

The post Censorship: UN Bans Hillel Neuer Calling Out Qatar’s Antisemitic UN Rep appeared first on UN Watch.

Sitting down with Igor Coelho on the Flow Podcast, one of the most viewed networks with over 5.7 million subscribers on YouTube, Hillel Neuer showcases the shortcoming of the UN and UNRWA’s ties to terrorism.

Flow Podcast: So is the UN is not standing firm against Hamas?

Hillel Neuer: No, absolutely not. Not even close. The UN Humanitarian Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths said the UN does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization. It’s a political faction. So they can’t even say that about a group whose sole raison d’être is to kill civilians—to murder them—and they can’t bring themselves to acknowledge it.

It means, if you can’t define a terrorist, then there’s no way you can fight it. So sadly, the UN—sadly—is worthless. Most UN officials are unable to condemn Hamas. And even one of them—I mentioned her name—Francesca Albanese—has become kind of a propaganda, you could say, almost a spokesperson for Hamas inside the UN.

Flow Podcast: Can you tell us about some of the issues with UNRWA?

Hillel Neuer: We’ve reported on the fact and revealed that the heads of UNRWA schools are, in many cases, actually members of Hamas. For example, the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union overseeing 2,000 UNRWA teachers in Lebanon, Mr. Fathi Sharif, was the head of Hamas in Lebanon. Israel killed him in September with a missile, and the day he was killed, Hamas said, “You killed our leader.”

And UNRWA said, “We did not know.” Really? Because for 10 years, on his Facebook page, he was posting Hamas leaders, pictures of terrorist acts every second day. He was saying, “I love Hamas,” pictures of himself with terrorist leaders. We call that hiding in plain sight. But UNRWA did not know? There are pictures of him on stage with a five-year-old boy with a green Hamas headband. The pictures are on the web. Trust me, UNRWA knows about it.

The post Hillel Neuer Sits Down with Brazil’s Flow Podcast appeared first on UN Watch.

Hillel Neuer appeared for a studio interview on Brazil’s Globo to discuss the rise of antisemitism and UN Watch’s role in holding the UN accountable.

Globo: So, Hillel, when and how was UN Watch created?

Hillel: It was created in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1993 by a great American civil rights leader, Morris Abram. He’s someone who grew up in a small town in the South of America. He saw the segregation, the racial segregation that was taking place in the Deep South in America, and he was one of the leaders in fighting it. He was in Atlanta in the 1950s, and he became close with Martin Luther King.

Eventually, he was named U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Europe. And he retired in 1993, and he had the idea to create an organization—for the first time—a body that would monitor the United Nations to see that it lives up to its charter.

And Morris Abram was himself a UN human rights expert. In the 1960s, he was on the Sub-Commission for Human Rights, and he drafted the Convention Against Racism. The idea of UN Watch is to have what they have in America—checks and balances. We all need to be monitored and held to account.

So our organization is there to watch the UN, with a general focus on human rights—to see the UN lives up to its human rights dream—and a particular focus on combating antisemitism. Part of our work is being the conscience at the United Nations.

The United Nations has the highest ideals. It was founded after World War II to respond to barbarous acts which outraged the conscience of mankind. And that was the dream of the United Nations—to reaffirm the principle of human dignity after the Nazi Holocaust, created by those who defeated Hitler.

So, sadly, the body that was meant to bring international peace, security, and fundamental freedoms has become very politicized. And even our countries—our democracies—whether it’s Brazil, whether it’s EU countries like France or the UK or Germany—do deals with countries. They say, “Well, we don’t want to make trouble. Okay, the Islamic regime of Iran, they’ll chair the women’s rights commission. And China and Cuba and Qatar, which supports terrorism, they’ll sit on the Human Rights Commission.”

So many cynical political deals are done. Many diplomats—our diplomats, democracies—go along to get along. And you need some voices to speak out, to bring the victims. And we’ve brought victims who were poisoned and imprisoned—in Russia, in China, from Eritrea—and we are sort of the moral compass of the United Nations, to sound the alarm.

Globo: So Hillel, how do you think your work changed after October 7?

Hillel: Yeah, it’s a good question. You know, our organization is also at the lead in fighting antisemitism or the obsessive demonization of Israel. There is a certain inclination to say the source of all the trouble in the world is a small little country called Israel, the Jewish state, and they’re the ultimate racist country, the ultimate war criminal, the ultimate human rights violator.

So we speak out against that, and we always have. On October 7, we saw something that we never imagined. The head of the United Nations, António Guterres, spoke weeks after the massacre where 1,200 Jews were slaughtered in one day—in front of their families, tortured, sexually assaulted. A few weeks later, António Guterres spoke to the United Nations. He said, “I condemn Hamas,” but he said, “These attacks did not happen in a vacuum.” And then he went on to enumerate numerous alleged Palestinian grievances against Israel—one after the other, after the other. In effect, the head of the United Nations was justifying—saying, “Yes, I condemn, but you have to understand, there’s a context. It didn’t happen in a vacuum.”

And I was shocked, because nothing justifies murdering families in front of them, kidnapping 250 people—grandfathers, Holocaust survivors, little babies. Hamas kidnapped infants and then killed them with their own hands. Nothing justifies it. And the head of the UN was justifying it, in effect, in his own diplomatic language.

Globo: President Trump says he wants to build a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, but that’s supposed to remove all the people from Gaza, from there. So this would constitute ethnic cleansing. Do you agree with that?

Hillel: No. Ethnic cleansing is a war crime, and no one should be doing that. However, people from Gaza should have a choice. And sadly, what has happened until now is Hamas oppresses them.

In the past week, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza said, “Out with Hamas, down with Hamas, Hamas is ruining our lives.” Hamas has, I think, 58 hostages that they refuse to release, and they want Israel to keep bombing. They want the war — the never-ending war. And people of Gaza need a future.

So President Trump said things that are not realistic. But what he said that is realistic is not a single person from Gaza should leave if they don’t want to. But they shouldn’t have a gun to their head and be told, “You can’t leave your house, and you can’t move to a safe zone.”

So what we need is—what the cleansing we need—is to rid ourselves of a fanatical Islamist death cult called Hamas, funded by the Islamic regime in Iran. And that will liberate Palestinians. And they need to focus on building a Palestinian future.

You can’t eliminate the ideas—that’s true—but who is strong and who’s in power makes a big difference. At the end of the day, the Arabs in Gaza who are demonstrating now—they didn’t demonstrate last year. They’re not necessarily lovers of Israel. They feel that Hamas is bringing war and destruction.

If Hamas won, if Hamas were killing more Israelis, I don’t know if they would be protesting—the people in Gaza. But when they see Hamas losing, then they say, “We need something different.”

Globo: What do you think must happen for the war to end? Because Israel already killed most of the Hamas leadership.

Hillel: Well, the hostages have to be released, right? There are hostages now, as we speak, being tortured, being sexually assaulted, being starved—and they have to be released now.

And the people of Gaza need to tell Hamas—which some of them are trying to—“We don’t want this war. Release the hostages and surrender.” The moment Hamas says, “The hostages are released, we surrender,” the war ends.

At the same time, you also have to think about what’s next. Because in 2006, Hamas captured Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier. Israel released 1,000 terrorists to free him. So the Israeli government was kind to Gilad Shalit and his family—but was not kind to those who were murdered and raped and assaulted by Yahya Sinwar, who was released. He was released—he was one of the 1,000—and then he planned the massacre.

So it’s a horrible dilemma that no one should face. How do you choose between saving the lives of these victims—who are being, as I said, assaulted, tortured, starved—but you also have to protect your people from the next day?

Hamas says, “We want to do it again.” Their leaders say, “We want to do October 7 again.” They still have rockets. What has to happen is the world needs to tell Hamas: surrender, release the hostages—and then the war will end.

Globo: Why do you think antisemitism is on the rise after October 7?

Hillel: When Hamas invaded Israel, Israel is stronger than Hamas, but they thought, maybe we can destroy Israel. If we don’t defeat Israel, when we go and slaughter families and we do atrocities and we broadcast it and we terrorize the Israelis, they’re going to strike us back.

But where do you find the Hamas people? When they do ceremonies, they have their uniforms. Hamas—when the war begins—there’s no uniform, there’s no pictures. During a war, in all the pictures of Gaza, you will never see—during the war time—a Hamas fighter with a uniform being shot. They dress like the civilians. They put their headquarters in the hospitals. They are in the terror tunnels underneath the schools.

And the Hamas strategy was deliberate—to provoke Israel to attack them. Because every country has to defend its citizens. And if you’re attacked by thousands of rockets—or even one rocket—you must attack the rocket launcher.

And they did everything they could so that Israel would end up killing civilians—pictures of dead babies. And they knew that these pictures around the world—“Israel’s killing babies”—would provoke hatred against Israel around the world.

Hamas knows that. There seems to be a demand for that story, and Hamas is supplying it. And we’ve seen antisemitism—in my lifetime, I’ve never seen it. I grew up in Canada—one of the greatest countries for Jews to live in. Synagogues, Jewish community centers, very rich Jewish life. The antisemitism in the past year and a half has been a tsunami.

The Jewish school that my brothers went to was shot at twice. One night, then again the next week. The synagogue that I went to was shot at. This never happened my whole life—not one time. Firebombs against synagogues, schools, Jewish community centers. A girls’ Jewish school in Toronto was shot at three times.

In Europe, where I live, when a Jewish person takes a taxi and he wants to go to the Jewish community center, he says, “Maybe I’ll tell him to let me off a block away.” If the driver—often Muslim immigrants—sees that I’m Jewish, maybe he’ll attack me.

So it’s been a tsunami of antisemitism. And to be honest, for me and many others, we’ve been speechless to witness this.

The post Hillel on Brazil’s Globo: “Antisemitism today has been a tsunami” appeared first on UN Watch.

Hillel Neuer appeared on NewsNation with Anna Kooiman to discuss the dangers of negotiating with Iran’s extremist regime and the UN’s ineffectiveness in holding Iran accountable.

Full Transcript:

Anna Kooiman, NewsNation: Out at the White House between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tackling tariffs, Gaza’s future, and Iran’s nuclear threat. The two talked about the recent 17% U.S. tariffs impacting Israeli exports like machinery and medical equipment. The leaders emphasized the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, with Trump warning of severe consequences if negotiations fail.

President Donald Trump (recorded video): We are trying very hard to get the hostages out. We’re looking at another ceasefire. We’ll see what happens, but we want to get the hostages out. The Israeli people want the hostages out. More than anything, they want the hostages out.

Anna Kooiman, NewsNation: Well, joining us now to talk more is Hillel Neuer, the Executive Director of UN Watch. Great to see you.

Hillel Neuer: Thank you for having me.

Anna Kooiman, NewsNation: Yes, so Israel is committing to bringing down the trade deficit with the United States. We saw Bibi Netanyahu saying this yesterday. What could this mean for both countries, especially with the U.S. imposing a 17% tariff on Israeli goods?

Hillel Neuer: Well, look, Israel’s the tiny player here, so it’ll impact Israel much more than the United States. For Israel, the 17% tariffs could be a $2 billion hit on the economy. Manufacturers say they could lose perhaps 20,000 jobs. So it’s quite significant for a small country like Israel.

Clearly, Netanyahu has made the case. He came in offering himself to remove trade barriers. Trump’s reply was maybe he’ll move the tariffs—maybe not. My guess is that Trump will want to do so, but not immediately. And he’ll have to see how other countries, you know, make their deals as well.

Anna Kooiman, NewsNation: All right. Well, President Trump announced that direct talks are happening with Iran over its nuclear program. What is UN Watch’s stance on these negotiations, and what do you expect to come from these talks? Apparently, this weekend, things are really going to get going.

Hillel Neuer: Look, the first thing to understand with the Islamic regime in Iran is that these are fanatical extremists. They truly believe that God wants them to destroy Israel. They negotiate not to make peace, but to buy time. We have to remember that no deal is better than a bad deal.

We need a deal that ends Iran’s nuclear program—not just something that delays it. We need verification. It has to be intrusive. It’s got to be permanent, enforceable. Anything less will be surrender.

Anna Kooiman, NewsNation: I think that should be underlined—no deal is better than a bad deal. What measures should the UN use to make sure Iran actually complies with the deal? If there is a deal, how do we make sure they stick with it?

Hillel Neuer: Well, if the UN were to be helpful, the Security Council should impose maximum pressure. Sanctions worked—weakening them only gave the regime more oxygen. Sadly, when it comes to the UN, the only body that could take real action is the Security Council, but Iran’s sponsors are there to take blocking maneuvers. We’re talking about Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Xi Jinping’s China. The result is the UN is not, sadly, going to be the one that’s going to help on these matters.

Keep in mind, the United Nations a couple of years ago elected Iran to the UN Women’s Rights Commission, even though it’s a regime that beats, blinds, poisons, rapes, and tortures women for the crime of standing up for their human rights. The United Nations elected the Islamic Republic of Iran to be president of the UN Human Rights Council Social Forum just over a year ago.

So the UN is not going to be the savior on this. It’s going to have to be democratic countries—the U.S., the EU, the UK—taking the lead, imposing maximum pressure to finally hold this regime to account.

Anna Kooiman, NewsNation: And President Trump has proposed that the United States take over the Gaza Strip and transform it into a Riviera of the Middle East. What could this mean for the region, and would any plan like this actually comply with international law?

Hillel Neuer: Well, look, the important thing is for the people of Gaza and the people of Israel—how can their lives be more peaceful? That’s what we all should be talking about. The people of Gaza are the only people who have their own regime that is sacrificing their lives with no concern whatsoever for their own well-being.

Hamas leaders said they’re willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of their own people for their war to destroy Israel. When the war began—keep in mind when there was war in Ukraine, war in Syria, other places—millions were able to flee. Sadly for Gaza, Egypt locked the border, wouldn’t let them flee. Gazans should have the right to leave if they want to.

But at the end of the day, President Trump is right when he says it could be a Riviera. I’ve been to the Gaza Strip. It has beautiful beaches, beautiful white dunes. And, you know, the Arab Emirates showed you could build up to the future—skyscrapers for progress. Hamas only wants to build down—terror tunnels, hundreds of miles of terror tunnels. We need a better future for the people of Gaza.

Anna Kooiman, NewsNation: Yeah, it’s tragic, what’s happening there. Hillel Neuer, thank you so much for joining us. Please come back again.

Hillel Neuer: Thank you.

The post Hillel Neuer on NewsNation: “We need a deal that ends Iran’s nuclear program—not just delays it.” appeared first on UN Watch.