In April 2017, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres became the first UN chief ever to address a World Jewish Congress gathering and also addressed the issue of bias against Israel. Speaking in New York to the delegates of the WJC Plenary Assembly, Guterres promised to stand up against anti-Israel bias at the world organization and said the Jewish state "must be treated like any other member state." He also stressed that Israel had an "undeniable right to exist and to live in peace and security with its neighbors," and that "the modern form of anti-Semitism is the denial of the existence of the State of Israel."