UN’s annual gabfest offers more than hot air — though there’s plenty of that

Dysfunction was the main item on the agenda for the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, and President Trump was full-throated in expressing US disapproval.

In his speech, he called out the wobbly body’s inability to keep the peace.

“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” he flatly asked. “It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.”

Trump’s frustration with the UN has been building up for years, and it’s likely to play out for a while more in the form of the United States withholding financial contributions — at least until reforms have been carried out.

The president also spoke in defense of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and America’s closest ally in the region, stating that calls for a Palestinian state would be a reward for Hamas’ terror attacks that didn’t begin in 2023 and show no sign of ending.

Trump was certainly right on Israel, where its military actions in Gaza, Iran and Qatar have led to an extravagant level of Israel-bashing, even by the standards of the General Assembly, which 50 years ago equated Zionism with racism.

The air in the hall grew hotter and more foul as proceedings wore on, with empty calls to unreasonable actions coming from all over the room.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron added to the inevitability of UN disapprobation of the Jewish state with their own countries’ ill-judged recognition of a nonexistent Palestinian state.

The pair were joined by Canada, Australia and several other European countries — all of which should have known better.

More surprising, perhaps, than Europe’s love letter to Hamas were the words of Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who showed more forbearance toward Israel — his nation’s traditional enemy — than Israel’s fickle allies.

He blasted Israeli airstrikes but said Damascus welcomed dialogue with Jerusalem and expressed commitment to the disengagement-of-forces agreement that installed a UN-patrolled buffer zone that has been in place for more than 50 years.

Argentine President Javier Milei backed up Trump’s criticisms of the UN and adopted a notably pro-Israel line, calling for the immediate release of the hostages, condemning Hamas violence and linking it to the history of Islamist terrorist attacks in Argentina.

Israel also received support from a more surprising quarter.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, representing the world’s most populous Muslim country, bluntly invited countries seeking peace in the Middle East to recognize Israel and respect its need for security.

Adding to these surprisingly positive developments, there are others afoot as the event passes its midway point.

European leaders have been in key meetings that point to the inevitability of the reimposition of UN sanctions against Iran under the “snapback” mechanism — likely to take place by the Sept. 27 deadline.

So the annual traffic/gabfest has not been completely useless.

But most of what’s worthwhile at the General Assembly happens on the sidelines.

That’s where officials from around the world get a chance to get to know each other and make the deals that keep the planet spinning.

The event provides a unique opportunity for high-level diplomacy to be conducted in the margins and probably saves hundreds of international flights for bilateral visits.

Unsurprisingly, the refusal to issue visas to some “delegates” has brought on grumbling about whether the United States is living up to its host-country obligations, but it’s hard to imagine this diplomatic circus playing out anywhere but the most international city in the world, New York.

Edmund Fitton-Brown is a former UK ambassador to Yemen and former UN coordinator. He is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.