Um-Shmum is a phrase coined by David Ben-Gurion

David Ben-Gurion

' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...

 on 29 March 1955 during a debate within his cabinet, as a scorning utterance towards the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 and an expression that reflects, even as to date, the way many Israelis feel about the institution. In that very same debate, he also famously said, "What matters is not what the Gentile

Gentile

The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....

s will say, but what the Jews will do.".

The original expression was uttered after Moshe Sharett

Moshe Sharett

Moshe Sharett on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Prime Minister of Israel , serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurion's two terms.-Early life:...

 responded to Ben-Gurion saying that there was a need to drive the Egyptians

Egyptians

Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...

 out of Gaza

Gaza

Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

 due to the Palestinian fedayeen

Palestinian fedayeen

Palestinian fedayeen refers to militants or guerrillas of a nationalist orientation from among the Palestinian people...

's attacks from there. Moshe Sharett claimed that the U.N "should be treated with respect, since without it, the state of Israel would not have been established"; to which Ben-Gurion replied, "Only the daring of the Jews founded this country, not the resolutions of the U.N." . Ben Gurion viewed the UN as heavily biased against Israel, as have many other Israeli politicians over the decades, including current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...

, who referred to the UN as a "theater of absurd" and "a place of darkness for my country" in his 2011 UN speech.

In 1998, Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

 quoted this phrase while visiting the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

 (Israeli Parliament), and made a rebutting pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

himself by saying that in the world that we live in today, "without the UM we will all have klum." (Klum is part of expressions that mean "nothing" in Hebrew.)