70 Years to Israel-UN Relations: Relevance, Roles and the Current Reality

Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to the Quartet, spoke with Dr. Michal Hatuel-Radoshitzky about the Israel-UN relationship. May 2019 marks seventy years since Israel acquired state membership status in the UN. In the decades that have elapsed, the UN has grown from 59 to 193 member states. Does this mean the UN is more powerful now than it was when Israel first joined? What is the UN’s role vis-à-vis the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock, and what can be said about the bias toward Israel in certain UN bodies? Other topics of discussion included the UN as an international organization in the current world order; the UN’s work in Israel and the region; and recent developments, including the escalation between Israel and Hamas and President Trump’s proposed peace plan.