Danon: Israel and the US, Winning Together at the UN!

“The days in which Israel was a but an isolated country are over. We have proved that it is possible to be both just and a winner.”

By Danny Danon, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN

For decades, the United Nations has served as the home turf of Arab countries who used it to batter the State of Israel and the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces. In recent years, though, the rules of the game have changed, and no longer finding itself having to deal with a last-minute tie, Israel now takes the field with a significant advantage.

The strength of the alliance between the United States and Israel is a prominent layer in our policies at the U.N. Our cooperation at the forefront of the diplomatic stage helps leverage the efforts of both Israel and the U.S.

In December, then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and I submitted a motion condemning the Hamas terrorist movement to the General Assembly. For the first time in the organization’s history, 87 countries voted to condemn Hamas and admitted the terrorist group was a global problem. This helped leverage the efforts Israel is leading to have Hamas defined as a terrorist organization at the U.N.

At the same time, when Washington needed our help, we were the first to stand alongside it. Every year, a resolution is submitted demanding the U.S. revoke its economic embargo on Cuba. Israel was the only country besides the U.S. to oppose the resolution in last year’s vote.

A few days ago, one of Hamas’s terrorist arms in Lebanon, disguised as a human rights organization by the name of “Shahed,” tried to gain observer status at the U.N. We informed our counterparts in the American delegation and together enlisted a majority of countries within the framework of an international campaign that succeeded in preventing a Hamas delegation from penetrating the U.N.

But the cooperation does not begin and end in New York; it is spread across the various branches of the U.N., including the infamously anti-Israel Human Rights Council in Geneva. One year ago, the U.S. announced that while it would continue to fight for human rights, it would no longer do so within the framework of an organization so blind with Israel hatred. The U.S. quit the council and called on other countries to follow suit.

This cooperation bolsters both countries at the U.N. This team draws ambassadors from all over the world, who see us as partners in such important struggles as the battle against rising anti-Semitism and the global terrorism emerging from Tehran.

Israel’s Foreign Policy Successfully Penetrates the UN

The days in which Israel was a but an isolated country are over. We have proved that it is possible to be both just and a winner. The Arab bloc is no longer able to garner automatic support for its anti-Israel efforts at the U.N. It sometimes fails in these efforts thanks to the active policy we are leading alongside our long-time friend. The automatic anti-Israel majority is disintegrating, and against what remains of it, a diplomatic wall of support from the many countries who choose to stand with Israel thanks to the intensive struggle for truth is being built.

Israel’s foreign policy is successfully penetrating the U.N.: The struggle against Iran’s nuclear program has not been taken off the Security Council’s agenda, and we are strengthening our ties with African ambassadors, many of whom have visited Israel as part of diplomatic delegations I have led.

The advantage we have achieved in recent years is proof that we can win in every arena.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.