Two Fade-Outs and a Farce |
Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist ——Bio and Archives--December 17, 2025
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The United Nations is closing out 2025 with another sorry record on key issues in which it has involved itself. The UN has been sidelined in efforts to bring peace in Gaza and Ukraine. And, once again, the UN has embarrassed itself with apocalyptic pronouncements and another useless conference regarding climate change.
Day after day, through resolutions and statements from high-level UN officials including Secretary General Antonio Guterres, we have heard calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a release of the hostages held by Hamas and other Iran-backed Palestinian terrorists. We heard no calls, however, from UN officials that all the hostages must be released first before implementation of any ceasefire or that Hamas must disarm as part of any negotiated post-conflict peace settlement. Israel received virtually all the blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza resulting from the conflict that Hamas initiated with its horrific October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The Trump administration put together a broad coalition of Arab, Muslim, and Western countries and led the negotiations that resulted in the current ceasefire. The details of Phase 2 of the Trump administration’s 27-point peace plan are now being negotiated, which calls for Hamas to completely disarm and to have no role in the post-war governance of Gaza. The UN is taking no part in the negotiations, although it is helping to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gazans made possible by the Trump peace plan that the UN Security Council has endorsed.
The United Nations is not expected to have a representative on the proposed........