“Our Enemies Can See Us As One, Why Can’t We?”     

As noted, this isn’t Danon’s first stint as Israel’s UN envoy. He first got the assignment in Manhattan’s Turtle Bay neighborhood in 2015 as a consolation prize after being fired as deputy defense minister for challenging Netanyahu’s defense policy.

Despite never having stood out as an orator in Israel, Danon shone on the world stage speaking in English. As ambassador from 2015 to 2020, Danon forged close relationships in the building’s corridors, becoming a well-liked and familiar figure. It sounds surreal now, but he was even elected chair of the UN’s Sixth Committee, which handles legal matters. He spoke with Mishpacha from New York last week.

Has the Big Apple changed? Is it more anti-Semitic than in the past?

It’s not a pleasant feeling to walk the streets of New York and see the [anti-Israel] protesters wandering freely. But I think everyone understands that [America and Israel] are together. The protesters grab all the headlines, but my sense is that the American public is on our side. We strengthen them, they strengthen us. And talking to Americans has reinforced my conviction that we’ll overcome these enemies, just as we’ve overcome other enemies in the past.

You are assuming this role under circumstances very different from those of your last term, with Israel in a crisis both militarily and politically.

The hostility toward us at the UN has always been there, but not at these levels. Most of the discussions here are about issues related to Israel. This place has an obsession with Israel. In one week, there were three votes in the Security Council — all three were about Israel, and not a single one was about Russia and Ukraine, for example. It’s unacceptable, and a gross perversion of justice.