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Danny Danon

Danon Confronts UN Officials Over Israel's Inclusion on Sexual Violence Blacklist

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, confronted senior UN officials in a fierce public exchange on Friday, June 19, refusing to let stand the world body's decision to place the Jewish state on a global blacklist tracking conflict-related sexual violence. The clash unfolded at a UN assembly marking the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Danon aimed his criticism squarely at Pramila Patten, the secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict. His anger stemmed from Secretary-General António Guterres's move in May to add Israel to an official registry of parties suspected of perpetrating sexual violence in wartime, a list that includes an array of terrorist organizations. “Israel has been placed on a blacklist alongside Hamas, ISIS and Boko Haram,” Danon declared, calling the designation “a moral disgrace” that would stain the secretary-general's legacy.

The session grew heated when Vanessa Frazier, the UN's special representative for children and armed conflict, loudly interrupted the ambassador. Danon charged that Patten had lent official legitimacy to grave accusations against Israel without independently examining the evidence or giving Jerusalem a fair chance to challenge the claims. “You should have said no. You should have resigned,” he told her. “You tried to stain Israel's name. But the stain is not on Israel. The stain is on you.” He went further still, attributing the UN's findings to an institutional obsession with targeting the Jewish state and telling the official, “We are a member state, and you work for the UN, and you will be quiet now.”

(INN/VFI News)

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.” – Isaiah 54:17