In 2016, during the final days of the Obama administration, UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (which declared Israeli settlements a flagrant violation of international law) passed without a US veto. "I called Ambassador Samantha Power – she didn't answer," Ambassador Danny Danon, reflecting on his first term as Israel's ambassador to the UN, recalled.
"The prime minister tried to reach President Obama – we were told he was in Hawaii." Today, in his second term as Israel's ambassador to the UN, the reality is entirely different. "We are at a historic peak in terms of US-Israel cooperation," he said. "This is a rock-solid alliance built on shared values and interests – but it has never reached the level it is at today. We are truly fighting together, sharing intelligence at the highest levels, and in the diplomatic arena too – shoulder to shoulder."
"Everyone is being careful"
The significance of America's involvement in the campaign against Iran is also felt in the Security Council. "The US has its own power, and one of the reasons we are not attacked more is because the US is part of this campaign," Danon said. "If Israel were facing Iran alone, you would see a completely different discourse – in the Security Council, in the positions, in the debates, even from the UN secretary-general. Everyone is being careful."
The close coordination between Jerusalem and Washington goes beyond statements. "We work at a very intensive level across all tiers, from the ambassador down to the professional staff," he explained. "It manifests in intensive contact before and during events. Sometimes they ask me to go on the offensive on a particular issue, and sometimes to hold back and not speak. The coordination is sometimes quiet – through information-sharing and aligning positions."
Gulf states vs. Europe
The dynamic plays out in the speeches themselves. "I sit and write my speeches, and Ambassador Mike Waltz sits with his team – and suddenly you realize the speeches sound as if they were written together. We speak the same language, and that is significant." In the most recent debate on a resolution pushed by Gulf states against Iran, which won the support of more than two-thirds of UN member states, Danon said it was a particularly meaningful moment: "Both Waltz and I attacked the Iranian representative and created a united front against him. By the end of the session, he was under pressure. That is a very high level of coordination."
American support has been visible on other fronts as well. In Lebanon, for example, various countries had been laying the groundwork for a ceasefire resolution while rockets were still falling. "The US acted to block that move and backed our operations. They saw that the arrangement wasn't working – that the mechanisms had failed, that the other side hadn't kept its commitments. Now that we are acting, they told us, 'You were right, you gave it time, you shared the intelligence, the other side didn't deliver – and now you have our backing to do what needs to be done.' That is very unusual."
But not everyone is on the right side. "Significant European countries are cooperating with Iran to water down texts in the Security Council," Danon said sharply. "One ambassador asked to remove the word 'Iran' from a resolution – that is a shocking thing." The Gulf states, by contrast, have undergone what he described as a genuine shift: "Saudi Arabia and the UAE set aside all their differences and are advancing the shared interest. They believed their longstanding ties with Iran would protect them – until the very last moment. When it happened, they pushed the system toward a decisive response."
The cooperation with the Gulf states is not limited to the diplomatic arena. "I meet with various officials – including from the Gulf – and I pass along good, real-time intelligence about developments, including on countries that are working against US interests." He was careful not to elaborate but pointed in a direction: "There are moments for doing and moments for talking. Right now, there is real action. I think the time will come to talk about it – both on the diplomatic front and in the realm of defense systems. There is an awakening, and even independent positions being taken, and that can lead to good places."
The result, in his assessment, is Iran's growing isolation. "The Iranians feel isolated. They have a strategic alliance with Russia and China – but when global markets are being destabilized, it affects everyone. I don't think those same partners are happy with what Iran is doing right now. Iran has created a very broad coalition of countries it is attacking, and that generates significant ill will."
"We cannot take this support for granted"
Danon, who has worked alongside the Obama, Biden, and Trump administrations, drew a sharp distinction between their approaches. "Support from both Democratic and Republican administrations matters to us – it's strategically important. But you have to acknowledge that with a Democratic administration, we usually 'sweat' – we need to persuade, work, and the veto doesn't bring any joy. When Trump sent his representatives, casting a veto for Israel was, for them, a peak moment – something to be proud of. One of the best moments of their tenure. That's why the attitude is different, and so is the public display of it."
He added a personal detail that illustrates the depth of the relationship: "Ambassador Waltz came to my home for a Shabbat dinner. He knows my family, and I know his. He brought Melania Trump here for a special event and asked me to come and greet her and take a photo – he didn't do that with other ambassadors. People notice that, and it matters."
And yet, despite the depth of the partnership, Danone cautioned against overreliance. "We cannot take this support for granted. We need to keep investing at every level – with the Republican Party and with the Democratic Party. We saw even friendly countries like Germany create problems for us with weapons during the fighting. At the same time, we need to keep developing independent capabilities that will give us freedom of action in the future."
Looking ahead, he was optimistic. "We need to leverage this partnership for more things. After we conclude the campaign against Iran and Lebanon, it will be possible to talk about expanding the Abraham Accords. That is a genuine goal of ours and of President Donald Trump – he believes in it and is pushing it. And I believe it will happen during this term."
