Yad Vashem condemns 'yellow star' stunt at UN

The head of Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial body, has condemned the wearing of a yellow star by Israel's diplomatic mission to the UN on Monday.

Israel's representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, and his team wore the badge in order to condemn the world's "silence" over the killing of Jews in Israel during the attack by Hamas-led Palestinian fighters on 7 October.

Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan said: "The yellow patch symbolises the helplessness of the Jewish people and being at the mercy of others. Today we have an independent country and a strong army."

His organisation is aimed at preserving the memory of the six million Jews killed by Germany's Nazi regime during the Second World War.

The Nazis made those determined to be of Jewish descent wear yellow stars in order that they be identified as such in public.