At the current session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod Cohen—an Israeli soldier currently held hostage by Hamas—delivered a powerful address on behalf of the World Jewish Congress. Speaking during one of the WJC’s official intervention slots, Cohen called on UN member states to help secure a ceasefire and ensure the immediate release of all hostages still held in Gaza. “We must not stop until every hostage is home with their family—until Nimrod is back with us,” he said.
Watch Yehuda Cohen’s statement and read the full transcript.
This intervention comes as part of the WJC’s long-standing engagement at the United Nations in Geneva, where the organization has consistently advocated for the rights and security of Jewish communities and for fair treatment of Israel within the UN system. The WJC also supported interventions by Jewish community leaders from Portugal, Norway, and Costa Rica. In total, WJC has delivered more than a dozen statements since the start of this session (Watch).
In recent weeks, the WJC also facilitated a private meeting between families of Israeli hostages and Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The meeting, organized by the WJC’s Geneva office, brought relatives of three Israelis held in Gaza directly to Türk’s office, where they shared personal testimony and appealed to him to use his influence to bring about the hostages' release. Türk condemned the hostage-taking in unequivocal terms and pledged to raise the issue in every relevant diplomatic forum.
Follow WJC’s Geneva Representative, Dr. Leon Saltiel, on X to stay up to date with WJC at the UN Human Rights Council.
What Else Has the WJC Done to Elevate the Plight of the Hostages on the Global Stage?
In the days following Hamas’s October 7 attack, the World Jewish Congress mobilized its more than 100 affiliated communities to elevate the crisis of the hostages and demand action from their respective governments and international institutions. WJC President Ronald S. Lauder led direct outreach to senior global leaders, including Pope Francis and UN Secretary General António Guterres, to whom he made a personal appeal at the Vatican to intervene morally and diplomatically on behalf of the hostages. In another high-level meeting, Lauder accompanied families of hostages to Paris, where they met with the Prime Minister of Qatar, one of the key intermediaries in the hostage negotiations. There, the families delivered deeply emotional pleas, urging Qatari leadership to use its influence to secure the release of their loved ones.
At the United Nations in both Geneva and New York, the WJC has consistently pushed the plight of the hostages to the forefront of international diplomacy. In Geneva, in addition to the meeting with the High Commissioner, WJC officials have held multiple briefings with UN missions and other international organizations. Publicly, the WJC and relatives of hostages have delivered additional statements on the record before the Human Rights Council, requesting the immediate release of their loved ones.
In recent months, the WJC has also brought influential delegations to Israel to witness the reality on the ground and meet directly with the families of the hostages. These missions have included groups of U.S. federal judges, who recently spent a week in Israel visiting affected communities and meeting legal officials, and a delegation of European sports leaders, including senior officials from German football, who met with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv. These visits not only deepened international understanding but created a network of high-profile advocates now pressing for the hostages’ release in their own countries and sectors.
Through diplomacy, public advocacy, and constant engagement with governments, institutions, and media, the World Jewish Congress continues to work tirelessly to bring every hostage home.
