Yad Vashem lashes out at Israel’s UN ambassador for wearing yellow star

Yad Vashem criticised Israel’s ambassador to the UN for wearing a yellow star during a speech at the United Nations. 

Erdan addressed the Security Council on Monday, wearing a yellow star to symbolise the growing antisemitism worldwide in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.

Erdan lashed out at the council for “staying silent” on the mass atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7: “Some of you have learned nothing in the past 80 years. Some of you have forgotten why this body was established.”

“So, I will remind you. From this day on, each time you look at me you will remember what staying silent in the face of evil means. Just like my grandparents, and the grandparents of millions of Jews, from now on my team and I will wear yellow stars.”

Yad Vashem commented on Erdan’s display of the yellow star, which is highly sensitive due to its symbolism from the Holocaust, saying that wearing it in such a way “dishonours both the victims of the Holocaust and the State of Israel.”

“The yellow patch symbolises the helplessness of the Jewish people and being at the mercy of others. Today we have an independent country and a strong army. We are masters of our destiny. Today we place a blue-white flag on the lapel, not a yellow patch,” Yad Vashem chief Danny Dayan said.