October 7 was a watershed moment in international affairs that shattered several myths. It shattered the myth that Israel’s days of worrying about ground incursions by organized armies were over. It shattered the myth that attitudes were finally changing for the better. The millions supporting Hamas worldwide shattered the myth that global, virulent anti-Semitism was a thing of the past.

One shattered myth hasn’t gained as much attention: the role of the United Nations. Famously called man’s “last best hope” for peace by John F. Kennedy, the UN’s reaction—or lack thereof—to the Israel-Hamas war demonstrates its failure to bring world peace.

It’s no secret that the UN has failed in its stated mission to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person.” Since World War ii, hundreds of wars have spiraled out of control. The UN didn’t stop these wars from snuffing out millions of lives.

But the Israel-Hamas war is especially noteworthy.

Hamas killed over 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, in the largest massacre of Jews on record since the Holocaust. The fate of over 200 hostages taken to the Gaza Strip is still unknown. Images of bludgeoned corpses, crimson-soaked cribs, and petrified young women carted off like cattle to be raped have been seared into the collective Israeli psyche.

The attack was unprovoked. It happened at the hands of a recognized terrorist organization, which staged its attack from land not recognized as controlled by any sovereign state.

Article 51 of the United Nations Charter states:

Nothing in the present charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Israel is a UN member; the “State of Palestine” is not. It is not recognized as a sovereign state by 55 countries. Hamas’s government in Gaza is a rogue institution separate from Palestine’s internationally accepted government in the West Bank. As far as UN law is concerned, Israel has the right to do what it is doing. Hamas does not have reciprocal rights because it is not a legitimate government.

Yet some argue that Israel, by invading Gaza, is overstepping its boundaries. Never mind that Israel has created humanitarian corridors for civilians while Hamas has ordered them to stay put. Never mind that Israel is letting millions of dollars-worth of humanitarian aid in through Egypt. Never mind that Israel has agreed to daily pauses in hostilities to allow aid to reach people and civilians to flee. Never mind that Hamas uses its own people as human shields to make Israel look bad.

One would think the UN would have jumped to Israel’s side given the circumstances. But over a month later, no meaningful support has been sent Israel’s way.

The UN has been guilty of an anti-Israel bias for decades. But in this case, we haven’t seen any decisive action. No peacekeeping force is making Israel stand down, as was done in the Suez Crisis of 1956. There is no mass removal of embassies as there was after the Six-Day War in 1967.

This is not how I’m hoping the UN responds. But at the very least, such resolute action would show the UN cares.

In 2016, a Holocaust survivor told me she believed collaborating with the Nazis was the second-worst course of action a non-Jew could have taken in German-occupied Europe. Worse than that, she told me, was doing nothing: sitting back, watching people have their lives snuffed out in demonic hatred, able to help but not caring enough to do anything about it.

The United Nations Security Council (unsc) has the authority to dispatch peacekeepers and enforce embargoes. It adopted its first resolution regarding the conflict on November 15, over a month after hostilities began. This followed four failed attempts. The United States, the United Kingdom and Russia all abstained. The resolution, sponsored by Malta, didn’t condemn the invasion or mandate action from Israel, Hamas or the UN. Instead, it pleaded for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors” and for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.” Aside from acknowledging the problem, the unsc has done nothing when it has the power to do something.

The UN is one of the largest sponsors of Gaza’s government. Before the war, it operated 183 schools in Gaza—the same schools that teach Gazan children to murder Jews. Hamas uses these schools as fronts to construct tunnel networks and store military equipment. These schools teach children that a life ended as a young suicide bomber is a life worth living.

The Nazis murdered roughly 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. The UN was formed to prevent such atrocities. The State of Israel exists in part because the UN was giving Jews a chance to put their lives back together in a state of their own.

Albeit on a smaller scale, October 7 was its own holocaust. Through sponsoring Gaza, the UN helped create this mess. After October 7, it has sat on its hands and done nothing. It has betrayed its own purpose for existing.

The Prophet Isaiah wrote: “The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace” (Isaiah 59:8).

After signing Japan’s surrender in World War ii, U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur said (emphasis added):

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. … Military alliances, balances of powers, leagues of nations—all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blots out this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door.

The UN was the world’s “last chance.” Its response to the October 7 attack shows it was a mirage.

However, real peace is not a mirage. Isaiah also wrote, “The sandy mirage will become a pool, the thirsty ground springs of water …” (Isaiah 35:7; Complete Jewish Bible).

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes in Isaiah’s End-Time Vision:

In the near future, those desert mirages will be replaced by real lakes! That mirage is only a type of the illusions that fill this world. Men see mirages in marriage, race relations, education, religion and peace endeavors—they see hope that later proves to be a dreadfully disappointing mirage! Soon, all of those mirages will become reality—real success and fulfillment.

Real peace requires identifying the real cause of peace—and of war. The United Nations has failed to bring peace because it doesn’t recognize the cause.

There is a cause for peace. Find out what it is by reading Mr. Flurry’s free booklet ‘We Have Had Our Last Chance.’