On occasion, there have been moments of moral clarity in the General Assembly. Some consider then-United States Ambassador to the U.N. Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s powerful, prescient speech in response to the Zionism=Racism resolution to be the greatest ever delivered in that chamber. Said Moynihan:

“The terrible lie that has been told here today will have terrible consequences. Not only will people begin to say, indeed they have already begun to say that the United Nations is a place where lies are told, but far more serious, grave and perhaps irreparable harm will be done to the cause of human rights itself.”

Sixteen years later, on Sept. 12, 1991, the resolution was repealed in the General Assembly. The world was beginning to take a historic turn; communism had fallen in Eastern Europe in 1989, and the USSR had just imploded a month before. Then Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations John Bolton worked tirelessly to turn around votes that had been cast against Israel in 1975. Representing B’nai B’rith, I was proud to be present in the General Assembly Hall for his eloquent remarks, righting a historic wrong.

Sadly, the die that had been cast in 1975 has enjoyed a revival today. It lives in the halls of the U.N., on college campuses, in the streets of our major cities, in the reportage of most of the world’s major media outlets, on social media, in the halls of Congress and parliaments and from senior government officials on a global scale. The charge of racism waged against Zionism, Israel and its supporters has now been joined by a chorus of blood libels against Israel for committing “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza.

We have said many times in this space and elsewhere how vital the work of B’nai B’rith is at the U.N., where we’ve advocated for Israel and called out the incessant bias by an international organization founded in 1945 on the ashes of the Holocaust.

What then are we to do in this year of the 75th anniversary of Israel’s admission to the community of nations? Is this something to celebrate? To commemorate? Or, simply “to mark.”

In 1945, we had no state, no voice and few friends. That changed in 1948, when Israel declared its independence.

I continue to be amazed by the resilience of Israel and its people. Despite its enemies and detractors, Israel has contributed greatly to the world, improving countless lives in the 20th and 21st centuries. When its ambassadors sit behind the “Israel” desk sign at the U.N., we are reminded of the treacherous millennia-long journey the Jewish people have taken, as we say in the Shehecheyanu prayer, “to reach this day.”

The real challenge at the U.N. is not only to Israel but also to us, the Jewish people. Facing attacks from Iran, its proxies, and the spread of lies and libels in the international community, the Jewish world must unite to push back and set the record straight. Unity at this very existential moment should not be seen as a cliché; we can agree to disagree on many points, but not on speaking up for an Israel which its enemies are actively seeking to make an international pariah.

In the meantime, B’nai B’rith is, has been and will always be present when and wherever the U.N. at its key agencies convene: at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, in New York, making the case for Israel, meeting on the sidelines with a long list of presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers; in Geneva and in Paris in early 2025, doing the same. In Israel’s 75th year as a member of this many-times antagonistic organization, it is a duty we gratefully, and eagerly, accept.