Danon, Danny

Danny Danon (Hebrew: דני דנון; born 8 May 1971) is an Israeli politician and diplomat serving as Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations since 2024, and previously from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Likud party, he served in the Knesset from 2009 to 2015 and from 2022 to 2024. The former leader of the world Betar organization, Danon was elected Chairman of the World Likud. Considered a "right-wing thorn in Netanyahu's side", Danon challenged Benjamin Netanyahu for the party's leadership in 2007 and 2014. First elected to the Knesset in the 2009 election, Danon served as Deputy Minister of Defense, which coincided with the outbreak of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. He was ultimately fired by Netanyahu for criticizing the Prime Minister's willingness to accept a proposed ceasefire. In 2015, Danon was appointed to serve as Minister of Science, Technology and Space. Danon became Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2015, and made history in 2016 by being the first Israeli elected chair of the UN's Legal Committee. In this capacity, Danon supported the United States' recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel in 2017, and criticized supporters of UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/19 as "puppets pulled by the strings of the Palestinian puppet masters." Danon left the position in 2020, and was replaced by Gilad Erdan. Following his tenure at the UN, Danon re-entered Israeli politics, and was elected to the Knesset in the 2022 election. In a 2021 interview, Danon indicated that he would be interested in pursuing leadership of the Likud party in the future. In August 2024, Danon returned as Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.