NEW YORK – Israel’s newly minted ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon held up an oversized photo of a Hezbollah rocket apparently positioned inside a Lebanese home, showing reporters outside the General Assembly that the militant group is using civilians in Lebanon to target civilians in Israel.
“Their disregard for civilian life not only threatens Israel but holds the people of Lebanon hostage in their own country, pushing the entire region toward conflict and chaos for everyone’s sake,” he said.
Still, Danon maintained the Israeli government’s talking point that it prefers diplomacy but is “using other methods to show the other side that we mean business.”
“We will do whatever necessary to bring the residents back to the North. If nothing will help, then the goal of any operation is to achieve peace,” he said, noting that Israel is listening to US guidance against escalation.
Danon said it’s not too late for the Lebanese government and the Lebanese people to put pressure on Hezbollah to stop their aggression.
Calling out European leaders
“If they will not fire rockets into Israel, we will be able to bring our residents back to the communities,” he said. “That’s it. You have no escalation.”
Danon then responded to world leaders’ earlier criticisms of Israel, calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comparisons of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler “shameful” and “beyond imagination.”
Leaders of the region understand the same radical forces that Israel is fighting today are threatening their regimes as well, according to Danon.
Danon also called out European leaders, noting it’s not enough for them to say they support Israel’s right to self-defense while also calling for an immediate stop to the war.
When asked about the creation of a two-state solution under an international coalition, Danon flipped the question and asked why Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas hasn’t condemned Hamas.
“On the contrary, we see ministers in his government that support and celebrate what we have endured,” Danon said. “So I think it requires leadership in order to move forward for a peace agreement between us and the Palestinians.”