Israel’s spokesman at the UN has announced that he will step down from his post after nearly two years.
The diplomat and former New York Post staffer made the announcement in an interview with JNS earlier this week.
He later told the JC that being Israel's international representative at the global body had been “the honour of a lifetime”.
"It has been a privilege to use the global platform the United Nations still has to amplify the voices, stories and plight of the Israeli hostages while they were held captive by Hamas in Gaza, and to raise awareness about the people of Iran.”
Harounoff took up the post after attending a screening that the Israeli mission to the UN organised in 2024, showing 47 minutes of footage of Hamas’s October 7 atrocities.
Gilad Erdan, who was then the Israeli envoy, saw his posts and contacted him. He accepted a job as international spokesman for the mission, but by the time he came aboard, Erdan had moved on and Danny Danon was named Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.
Danon is very different from Erdan, who is now president of Magen David Adom, according to Harounoff.
“Gilad was more someone who comes in blazing, very effective at what he does,” he told JNS. “He knows how to create those viral moments.” Danon is “more diplomatic,” he said, noting the envoy’s “very close” relationship with his US counterpart, Mike Waltz.
"He’s very effective at building relationships with people and delivering speeches.
"At the time he joined, Israel needed someone who could hit the ground running straight away, someone who knew the lay of the land.”
During the interview, Harounoff confirmed that he would leave his job on July 1, saying it is time for him to move on and “try other things”.
"A lot has happened in those two years,” he went on. “I hope we’re turning a new leaf.”
But he told the JC that his successor will arrive at a UN that is facing “a critical juncture”.
"With the election of a new secretary-general later this year, it has the chance to fundamentally shift the wrong direction it has been taking for years and steer closer to its very noble foundational goals of ensuring global peace and preventing dangerous conflicts from escalating, or it can continue operating as it has and continue its disappointing descent into irrelevancy.
“I’m hoping it course corrects because the world needs places where all countries – all peoples – can gather, resolve disputes and reconcile under one roof. And I, for one, would prefer that one unique place to be in New York rather than Beijing or Moscow.”
With the process of electing a new secretary-general well underway, Harounoff hopes that new leadership will fix what he called a “broken” United Nations.
The rest of the year, and particularly the end of the year, “is going to be a make-or-break year for the UN,” he told JNS. “Whoever takes over as the next secretary-general can really steer the UN back to its foundational goals of being that one forum in the world where countries can solve the world’s problems.”
“It’s important to have at least one place where every country can come and talk things out,” he said. “But it can’t be too politicised. I think that’s really where the UN has strayed.”
Despite his criticism of the organisation, Harounoff has not lost faith in it as a whole.
He hinges his hope on the candidates for secretary-general, who have all “made it part of their platform to recognise that the UN is broken and that a lot needs to be done to regain the world’s respect,” he said.
“If they do the right thing, the UN could come back,” he told JNS. “It could be great again.”
Before entering diplomacy, Harounoff covered Iran, Israel and the Middle East as a journalist. He came into the UN role with the goal of advocating for Israel and for the Iranian people, who have and continue to suffer under the Iranian regime.
“I wanted to make the most of my time here and use the platform of the United Nations not just to talk about Israel but also to highlight the humanity and commonality between the people of Israel and the people of Iran,” he told JNS.
“I’ve been able to broaden the focus not just on Israel but on allies and the Iranian people as well,” he said. “I don’t think that’s happened before.”
During his tenure at the United Nations, he penned the book Unveiled: Inside Iran’s #WomanLifeFreedom Revolt.
Growing up in London, Harounoff dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. That never came to pass for him, though he did Israel’s team in a UN member-wide tournament.
The British-Iranian journalist said that playing for Israel in the U.N. games helped him connect with diplomats from other countries.
“We played against Arab countries, European countries, African countries, Asian countries,” he said. “For me, it was a lesson in how sports diplomacy and other forms of engagement can be really powerful in bridge-building.”
“We got to the quarterfinals, which, for Israel, getting to any kind of knockout stage is quite good,” he said with a laugh.
Harounoff now plans to devote more time to the public relations firm, Noff Media, and to work on a book about a little-known story from the period surrounding the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Looking back on his tenure, Harounoff is most proud of the relationships he built with journalists and diplomats, who had rarely interacted with Israeli representatives before.
Football helped, he said.
“Everyone is equal on the field,” he said. “Then you see those same people here in suits, and you’re no longer just the representative of a country. You’re someone they already know. You already have that commonality.”
He plans to take lessons from both diplomacy and football with him.
“It’s not like a football match or a boxing match where there’s an immediate winner after 90 minutes or after a knockout,” he told JNS. “Diplomacy is often a long game.”
“You have to build relationships. You have to build trust,” he added. “You’ve got to invest a lot of yourself and a lot of your time into building those relationships, and the results don’t always materialise immediately.”
Additional reporting from the Jewish News Syndicate.
To get more Israel news, click here to sign up for our free Israel Briefing newsletter.