Git US out of the UN?

The stereotypically crackpot John Birch Society, founded in 1958, used to be described as the mothership of conspiracy theories, e.g., the alleged danger of fluoride in water supplies. Now our crackpot Secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK, Jr., is also a fan of the fluoride conspiracy theory.

That’s not the only nutty cause of the Birchers that still marches on. From the John Birch Society website:

From the English edition of the Israeli paper Haaretz: (1)

Now the idea is catching on with some rightwing Israelis. The Haaretz piece reports:

An Israeli right-wing think tank hired one of Washington's major lobbying firms to influence the work of Congress and the Trump administration, Haaretz has learned.

The lobbying services were commissioned by the Misgav Institute. According to the lobbying contract, the effort is designed to promote a report written by Gilad Erdan – Israel's former ambassador to the United Nations and until recently a senior member of the Misgav Institute – calling on the U.S. to withdraw from the UN. The lobbying firm was also hired to set up meetings with senior figures in Congress and the White House.

The lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs disclosed its contract with the Misgav Institute in a filing required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the United States, which requires American lobbyists to report on their activities on behalf of foreign entities. Mercury also represents customers such as the governments of Turkey, Japan and South Korea, and has in the past represented NSO, the Israeli maker of the Pegasus spyware.

From that report, it sounds like Erdan is no longer with the Misgav Institute. But the report he co-authored for the Institute is available on its website. (2) Even though it’s written in foreign-policy jargon, don’t mistake it for any kind of independent academic analysis.

Notes:

(1) Slymovics, Nettanel et al (2026): Right-wing Israeli Think Tank Hires Lobbyists to Push U.S. Withdrawal From UN. Haaretz 08/13/2026. <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2026-08-13/ty-article/.premium/right-wing-israeli-think-tank-hires-lobbyists-to-push-u-s-withdrawal-from-un/0000019f-f822-d28e-a3df-f872492a0000?gift=406feb4001c5448ca5841b38bbb12f7a> (Accessed: 2026-18-08).

(2) From UN Bureaucracy to American Global Leadership: A Strategy for Advancing American Interests by Disengaging from a Failed UN. Misgav website. <https://www.misgavins.org/en/fredman-un-bureaucracy-us-leadership/> (Full report: <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_sKLfgdKolNDKYuZixWiSPsMaQ1nQu9i/view> (Accessed: 2026-18-08).