Stop for a moment and think about what is happening in New York.
The president of Iran – a country in direct conflict with the United States – is permitted to enter America, receive the security provided to a visiting world leader, and stand at the podium of the United Nations to address the world.
Now look at Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making an extraordinarily brief trip to New York, arriving, addressing the UN, and leaving again within hours.
And this comes after the mayor of New York spent months publicly discussing the possibility of arresting him and making clear that Netanyahu was not welcome in his city.
Belgium’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prevot addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2026. (credit: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
Think about that for a second.
The president of Iran can enter the US, enjoy the protections afforded to a head of state, and speak freely at the UN.
The prime minister of Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East, comes into New York under intense hostility, stays only a matter of hours, and leaves.
That contrast should stop everyone in their tracks.
And then look at what has been happening inside the UN itself.
From the opening day of the General Assembly, speech after speech turned toward Israel: Turkey. Jordan. Qatar. France. Britain. Brazil. The secretary-general himself.
Different continents. Different religions. Different political systems. Different national interests.
Yet somehow they keep finding the same common ground: Israel.
The world has wars raging, dictatorships crushing their own people, political prisoners sitting in cells, minorities being persecuted, women being denied basic rights, and terror groups operating openly.
Iran itself poses a direct threat to America and the West. Yet when the nations gather, the recurring target becomes Israel.
Again and again.
And that is where the institution’s name begins to take on a different meaning.
The UN seems unable to unite around almost anything.
But put Israel in the middle of the room, and suddenly the nations discover what it means to be united.
Maybe it is time to call the institution what it has become: UNAI – United Nations Against Israel.
Because increasingly, that is the unity.
Not unity against terrorism, against regimes that threaten their neighbors, or around persecuted minorities or political prisoners.
But unity against Israel.
And there is something especially painful about seeing this happen in the very institution created in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust.
For thousands of years, Jews lived in other people’s countries.
They were persecuted, expelled, and massacred in those places, and they were blamed for problems they did not create.
Jews left countries they called home
Time and again, Jews discovered that the countries they called home could suddenly decide they no longer belonged.
Then came the Holocaust.
Six million Jews were murdered.
The world looked at the ashes of Europe and said: “Never again.”
Eventually, the Jewish people once again had something they had been denied for generations – their own country.
A tiny country.
A place where Jewish children would no longer have to depend completely on another government’s willingness to protect them.
A place where Jews could finally defend Jews.
Yet somehow even that has not ended the obsession.
For centuries, Jews were attacked because they lived among the nations.
Now the Jewish people are back in their homeland, and the hostility has followed them there.
This time, the Jewish state itself is placed in the dock.
October 7 should have been the ultimate reminder of why Israel exists: Jews were slaughtered in their homes. Families were murdered. Children, parents, and grandparents were taken hostage.
For once in Jewish history, those victims had a sovereign country capable of fighting back.
And what happened?
The world’s attention quickly shifted from the Jews who were attacked to the Jewish state defending itself.
Now return to New York.
Look at the picture again: Iran’s president enters the US and stands at the UN podium, but Israel’s prime minister comes to the same city after months of public hostility from its mayor, speaks, and leaves within hours.
Then inside the hall, country after country takes its turn attacking and condemning Israel.
Take a moment and really digest that.
The UN was supposed to represent a world that had learned from history.
Instead, one of its most consistent forms of international unity has become opposition to the one country created so that the Jewish people would never again be homeless and defenseless.
That is the eye-opener.
The nations may be divided on almost everything else. But when it comes to Israel, suddenly they know exactly how to unite.
So perhaps it is time to stop pretending the name means something else.
Call it what it has become.
UNAI, United Nations Against Israel.
The writer is the founder and CEO of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce.