Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon began his remarks at a luncheon last month at CBN’s Founder’s Inn by noting that it is “usually a bad sign when there’s a room full of people coming to talk about Israel.” Looking around the room with a big smile, he continued, “but today looks different. This room is full of friends!”
Just prior to the luncheon, Danon was interviewed by Gordon Robertson, 700 Club host and CBN CEO. Local elected officials including Congressman Scott Taylor, Virginia House of Delegate Jason Miyares, Virginia Beach City Councilman Bobby Dyer, and Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander, members of the Jewish community, and CBN partners and associates attended.
In brief remarks, Danon shared what was taking place on each of Israel’s borders and a bit of what serving in the United Nations as Israel’s ambassador involves.
Promising to be optimistic, Danon listed three recent achievements for Israel in the UN:
1) Yom Kippur is now recognized as a holiday at the UN (“That’s one day that the ambassadors can perform T’shuva (repentance),” he quipped.).
2) Kosher food is now available at the UN.
3) Danon ran for and won the position of chairman of UN’s legal committee—the first Israeli ambassador to hold any position in the UN.
Publicly, Danon says that UN Ambassadors tend to say “bad things about Israel, but privately, they say good things about Israel. We want to close that gap.”
In an effort to close that gap, a trip was arranged to take a group of UN ambassadors to Israel. First, though, they made a stop at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland to learn about the Holocaust. Surprisingly, many, Danon said, knew very little about the Holocaust. The group then traveled to Israel where they met with Israeli officials, including the president and prime minister, toured the country, and saw first-hand the borders, tunnels, and Gaza. It was an eye-opening trip for those ambassadors and one, that hopefully will be repeated.
Following a short video of the ambassadors’ trip, Danon said he’d “be happy to answer questions…but only easy questions!”
Danon closed by expressing his and Israel’s gratitude for the current climate of strong support for Israel from both the current administration—including Ambassador Nikki Haley and President Donald Trump for moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem—and from the pro-Israel community.
— Terri Denison