Cidi criticises Israeli UN ambassador for wearing Star of David

Dutch-Israeli organisation Cidi has criticised Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations for wearing a yellow Star of David badge at a Security Council meeting.

Gilad Erdan vowed to continue wearing the emblem until the UN agrees to condemn the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel on October 7, which left at least 1,400 people dead.

“Some of you have learned nothing in the past 80 years. Some of you have forgotten why this body was established,” he said as he addressed the security council on Monday.

Cidi director Naomi Mestrum said wearing the yellow star was “inappropriate”. “I understand the emotion in Israel, but the Holocaust must stand alone. This is not a disaster that can be compared with the institutional murder of six million Jews.”

The Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, also criticised Erdan. “The yellow patch symbolises the helplessness of the Jewish people when we were at the mercy of others,” director Dani Dayan said. He called on Israelis to fly the national flag instead.

In mourning

Emile Schrijver, director of the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam, said the gesture was “a reflection of the enormous grief and anger of the Israeli community.” Mestrum also said the country was “in mourning” after the October 7 attacks.

Cidi last week filed a formal complaint against the Dutch Instagram account CestMocro for publishing “shocking” anti-Semitic comments and inciting violence against Jews.

The owners of the cite denied the accusations and said they were “defending the innocent citizens who are being murdered in Gaza.”