Israel says never again, never again. So why work with enemies?

OPINION:

JERUSALEM — After a week in Israel, the common message from the Jewish people was this: Never again — meaning, never again would another Oct. 7, 2023, occur. Never again would a Holocaust occur. Never again would the Israeli people allow their enemies the opportunity to murder, rape, torture and kidnap on a mass scale.

And all the world should agree. 

But if the message is never again, and the intent is never again, then why work with enemies? 

Why work with the United Nations?

“Anti-Israel Action at the U.N. Since October 7,” AIPAC wrote in February of 2024. The essay went on to state, “The United Nations has long had a glaring anti-Israel bias, advancing biased and one-sided efforts to isolate and delegitimize the Jewish state. This anti-Israel prejudice has escalated dramatically since Hamas’ October 7 attack.”

Yet, in a visit to an IDF border post, labeled notably “UN,” a spokeswoman for the Israeli military made clear UNDOF — the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force — were the good guys of the United Nations; that UNIFIL, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, may have turned blind eyes to the tunneling by Hezbollah into Israel, and that UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, may be using foreign aid to sponsor terrorism against the Jewish people, and that both these groups may be trafficking in drugs to fund attacks against Israel — but not to worry, UNDOF-ers were the good guys. 

Trusted partners.

Trusted collaborators in the quest for peace and stability between Israel and Syria.

Trusted helpmates to maintain peace and stability in the region once Israel withdraws from Syria.

Hmm. 

That seems a shaky stance, given the whole antisemitic slant of the United Nations in general — and the corruption that’s been alleged at UNDOF specifically.

In September of 2024, Rep. Elise Stefanik accused the United Nations of passing a “disgraceful antisemitic resolution to demand that Israel surrender to barbaric terrorists who seek the destruction of both Israel and America.” Where were the demands on Hamas to release the hostages, she wondered? And rightly so. To suggest what is sure destruction for the Israeli people is antisemitism at its worst.

In January of 2025, the United Nations introduced a new plan to “counter the surge in antisemitism,” as The Associated Press reported. But that’s window dressing. Too many member states of the global body have since demanded the recognition of a state of Palestine and a return to two-state solution talks. France, Canada, the United Kingdom — they all want Israel to come to the table and talk peace, peace, peace and peaceful coexistence with an enemy that has no intention of living peacefully alongside the Jewish nation, and in coexistence with the Jewish people. Once more: To suggest what is sure destruction for the Israeli people is antisemitism at its worst.

The United Nations as a body cannot be trusted to serve Israel’s interests.

That goes for UNDOF.

The Army War College reported that between 2007 and 2017, dozens of UNDOF personnel were alleged or found to have committed acts of extortion, embezzlement and other abuses of authority. The Office of Internal Oversight Services at the United Nations, meanwhile, has “found serious mismanagement resulting in misconduct and corruption by certain UNDOF staff and UNDOF engineering contractors, including payment of kickbacks to UNDOF civilian staff.”

This is unsurprising. 

U.N. peacekeeping missions are known worldwide for their tendencies toward corruption.

Moreover, U.N. organizations are not autonomous. As the United Nations  itself reported, in its report of the secretary-general in January of 2025, “UNDOF will continue to be supported by UNIFIL in logistics for the movement of its goods and personnel through Lebanon, as well as for information technology and communications services.” That means UNDOF partners with UNIFIL.

That means UNDOF, even if it were clean of corruption, nonetheless works with the Hezbollah-supporting UNIFIL.

That’s just a scratch at the surface. The links and ties and rabbit holes and connections among U.N. bodies and U.N. contractors and U.N. missions run deep — as do the acts of corruption, abuse, fraud and thievery.

It’s well known that the United Nations is rife with corruption. It’s well known that the United Nations leans antisemitic.

So why does Israel trust UNDOF and willingly partner with an agency that serves a corrupt and antisemitic god?

Israel’s war against terrorism is America’s war, is the West’s war, is all of civilized society’s war.

The stakes are high. If Israel is mistakenly placing too much trust and faith in UNDOF, it’s more than Israel that will suffer the consequences.

And Israel is making a mistake.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.