A public exchange degenerated into a heated altercation between the Israeli ambassador and the special representative of the UN Secretary-General in charge of children and armed conflict.
At a meeting in New York on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, called for Pramila Patten’s resignation. She is the author of a report which placed Israel on a blacklist for the first time linked to alleged violations in this area. Danon accused her of bias. “You have given in to the secretary-general’s obsession with targeting Israel,” he said, referring to UN chief Antonio Guterres.
Another UN official, Vanessa Frazier, representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict and author of a separate report also blacklisting Israel, then intervened, invoking a point of order. She asked Danon to refrain from any “personal attacks” and claimed to have “verified evidence”. Danny Danon then told him to shut up. “We are a member state, and you work for the UN; so you will be silent now. You will shut up… you and your shameful report,” he said.
Former Malta ambassador to the United Nations, Vanessa Frazier published her report this week on behalf of Antonio Guterres. It warns that Israeli settler groups could be added to a global blacklist for violations committed against children. The Secretary General also expresses his concern about what he describes as a “staggering” increase in violations committed against Palestinian children.
Israel is already included in the so-called “list of shame” annexes of this report for alleged violations.
When Pramila Patten’s report was published last month, Danny Danon called it “a new low point,” while the Israeli Foreign Ministry promised to cut all ties with Antonio Guterres, whose ten-year term at the head of the UN will end at end of the year.
Both reports also blacklist Hamas, Israel’s main enemy.
