For first time in 10 years, UN chief to sit out Park East Synagogue Holocaust event

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will not to attend the New York City synagogue’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day event this year, according to a report.

Guterres, along with his predecessor Ban Ki-moon, has been a featured guest at the event for the past decade.

However, he has chosen to sit out this year’s event, stating that it should primarily focus on survivors and acknowledge the “pain” felt by the Jewish community, particularly in light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the rise of antisemitism.

“Following the terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October, and the subsequent rise of antisemitism and the continued pain of the community, the Saturday service at Park East Synagogue will be focused on healing and the testimony of survivors,” a Times of Israel report quoted a spokesperson for Guterres as saying to New York Jewish Week via email.

“It will not [be] an event for the diplomatic community so, therefore, the Secretary-General will not be attending,” added the spokesperson.

According to the report, the decision to exclude Guterres from the ceremony at the Upper East Side Orthodox congregation on 27 January remains unclear, as there is no explicit information on whether it was made by the synagogue, the secretary-general, or through mutual agreement.

In response to an inquiry, Park East communicated via email that this year’s event will focus on the Holocaust, the 7 October attack on Israel, worldwide antisemitism, and internal pain.

Israel’s acting consul general in New York, Aviv Ezra, is set to attend the event, along with Rabbi Arthur Schneier and families of Holocaust survivors. The program will feature testimony from a former Gaza hostage and from the siblings of a hostage held by Hamas, added the Times of Israel report.

Guterres, facing criticism from Israel for his response to the war, is expected to be absent from this event and is not anticipated at another Holocaust Remembrance Day event hosted by the Israeli mission to the UN. Instead, he will attend a Friday memorial ceremony at UN headquarters.

While Guterres had condemned Hamas’s 7 October invasion of Israel, he incensed Israelis on 25 October by saying that the Hamas attack “did not happen in a vacuum,” linking the terrorist atrocities to occupation, settlements and economic woes. That statement led Gilad Erdan, Israel’s UN ambassador, to call for Guterres’s resignation.

Advocates have urged Guterres to speak more forcefully in support of Hamas hostages, holding weekly protests outside his home. Despite forming a relationship with the UN chief, protesters believe he should do more without intertwining condemnation of Hamas with criticism of Israel.

With inputs from agencies