Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon brought the Security Council chamber to a boil, besting his Pakistani counterpart in a fiery exchange. At the outset of the Security Council session, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who flew in for the auspicious occasion, accepted an outpouring of international solidarity that was effusively expressed by member states.

Danon, unmoved, challenged the room's selective outrage: "Where was your indignation on October 7, when our sovereignty was breached and Israeli civilians were butchered by Hamas? What have we heard from this Council since then? Silence, silence." Danon reminded the Security Council that it was ironically convening on the 24th anniversary of 9/11: "Today, the world remembers the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11th. That tragic day, like October seventh for Israel, was a day of fire and blood. In the aftermath of 9/11, the countries that uphold freedom, equality, and democracy in this council stood shoulder to shoulder. Two weeks later, this council adopted Resolution 1373. It said plainly: no state may harbor terrorists, no state may give them safe haven. Any government that does so breaks this Council's binding obligations".

Danon's invocation of the US felling the mastermind of 9/11 on Pakistani soil struck a raw nerve with Pakistan's delegation, launching a fiery exchange that stunned the hushed Council: "When bin Laden was eliminated in Pakistan, the world did not ask why a terrorist was targeted on foreign soil – but why he was sheltered there in the first place. There was no immunity for bin Laden, and there can be no immunity for Hamas.'

Danon shone a much-needed spotlight on the selective outrage in international forums; no condemnation was issued against the US for violating Pakistani sovereignty, yet Israel is routinely censured for striking at recognized terror operatives, even when they operate with state protection. What happened next revealed just how exposed Pakistan felt by Danon's withering comparison of Israel's Doha strike to the bin Laden raid and his indictment of the Council's selective memory.

Pakistan's rebuttal

Visibly unsettled, Pakistan's envoy Asim Iftikhar Ahmad requested additional time after all council members had spoken. He shot back, dismissing Danon's analogy: "It is unacceptable, indeed ludicrous, for an aggressor and occupier, a serial violator of the UN Charter and international law that is Israel, to abuse this chamber and disrespect the sanctity of this Council." He lashed out further: "Israel is the perpetrator of the worst kind of state terrorism that we are witnessing in Gaza and in fact in the occupied Palestinian territories for decades. The world sees your double standards."

Danon reframed the issue before the Council and cut through Ambassador Ahmad's self-righteous facade like a laser beam: "You cannot change the fact that 9/11 happened, and you cannot change the fact that Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan and was killed on your territory. When you criticize us... think about the standards you apply to your country and the standards you apply to Israel….When bin Laden was eliminated in Pakistan, the question asked was not 'Why target a terrorist on foreign soil?' The question was, 'Why was a terrorist given shelter at all?' Don't lecture Israel about self-defense until you hold yourselves to the same standards."

Indeed, Pakistan's hospitality, witting or unwitting, allowed the world's most-wanted terrorist to live in comfort for years, yards from military installations – a fact the global community conveniently ignored when they criticized Israel's similar operation.

Make no mistake, the Danon-Ahmad exchange was more than the usual diplomatic theater; it laid bare the double standards underlying much of the Security Council's debate on counterterrorism and national self-defense. Indeed, the heated back-and-forth, sparked by Israel's operation, is emblematic of the hypocrisy that has plagued recent Security Council press statements condemning Israel while ignoring, or even tacitly excusing, equally or more controversial counterterror operations by other nations.

Danon's remarks were not only a defense of Israeli policy but a challenge to the Security Council's near unanimity supporting or excusing identical conduct by others under the banner of "counterterrorism." The contrast Danon highlighted is not theoretical; rather, it reflects an entrenched practice whereby Israel is uniquely held to impossible standards.

Article 51 of the UN Charter affirms that every state has the inherent right to self-defense if an armed attack occurs against it. Moreover, international law recognizes that self-defense against threats posed by non-state actors, like Hamas, extends beyond Israel's borders when the host country is either unwilling or unable to prevent its territory from being used for hostile acts.

The broader farce

Danon's Security Council exchange was more than diplomatic fencing – it exposed the core of the Council's performance. Pakistan, publicly wounded, clung to principles of sovereignty and "legal order," while Israel – by Danon's own words – was fighting for its existence with the same tools the world's superpowers have claimed for themselves.

As ambassadors traded formal statements and caustic barbs, it was Danon's moral clarity and Pakistan's subsequent outburst that made the true hypocrisy of this forum blindingly clear.

Institutionalized hypocrisy at the UN Security Council

Beneath the theatrics is the international community's deeper malaise. While the UN solemnly condemns Israel for operations against orchestrators of violence, it rarely demands accountability from those who harbor, fund or excuse terrorism against Israelis. In the wake of the bin Laden raid, Pakistan indignantly protested a violation of sovereignty but received only muted and formulaic expressions of concern from the Council. No resolution, no press statement, no emergency session was ever invoked to censure the United States; the world simply accepted the logic that where states fail, others may summon the will to act. The same principle was accepted for other member states fighting terrorism – except Israel.

Such hypocrisy has only deepened over time. Recent UN press statements "condemning Israel" over targeted strikes or forceful countermeasures are typically authored or championed by states that themselves have cheered – publicly or privately – when terror leaders like bin Laden were hunted down by other powers. The hypocrisy is "rank," as one Israeli deputy ambassador put it, because it demands of Israel a renunciation of its right to self-defense that no UN member would ever accept for their own country.

The persistence of this bias, as Danon and others have charged, is more than rhetorical. It warps both the legitimacy of the UN and the prospects for any honest debate about international law and norms. Criticism of Israeli actions is not inherently unjustified – but when such criticism is meted out with manifestly different criteria, it undermines the Council's credibility and emboldens bad actors who know the world's outrage is highly selective.

The Danon-Ahmad confrontation should stand as a warning. Until the world's leading deliberative body can address terrorism and self-defense without fear or favor, its pronouncements will continue to ring hollow. The real victims of this hypocrisy are not only Israelis and Palestinians but the entire mission the Security Council purports to uphold.

Eve Epstein, Ph.D., is the founder and principal of Epstein & Associates, a strategic communications and media management firm located in New York City. She has advised a two-term UN Secretary General and other top UN officials throughout the Secretariat and related UN agencies.

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The initiative follows the release of deeply disturbing videos showing hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, who have remained in Hamas and Islamic Jihad captivity for 667 days and appear in severe physical and psychological distress. The UN Security Council will convene on Tuesday for an extraordinary session dedicated to the hostage situation in Gaza.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar is spearheading the diplomatic initiative. According to Israel's UN mission, Sa'ar himself plans to attend the session and deliver remarks representing Israel, pending final coordination arrangements expected to conclude in the coming hours. Sa'ar intends to highlight the severe humanitarian crisis facing the hostages and demand their immediate liberation from the terror organization.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon referenced the forthcoming discussion in a post on X, writing, "Following my appeal to the President of the UN Security Council, the Council will convene this coming Tuesday for a special emergency session on the dire situation of the hostages in Gaza. The disturbing images speak for themselves. While a global campaign is being waged against the State of Israel, Hamas terrorists are starving and abusing the Israeli hostages. It is time for the Security Council to unequivocally condemn the barbaric acts of Hamas, which continue day after day, hour after hour."

24-year-old Evytar David has been held hostage by Hamas since October 7, 2023.
The UN Security Council must convene and address the only real starvation in Gaza - that of the hostages. pic.twitter.com/ocjx7CN5Hr

— Danny Danon דני דנון (@dannydanon) August 1, 2025

Although the session centers on hostages under Hamas control, Security Council members are anticipated to introduce additional topics concerning the Gaza conflict, including the absence of ceasefire progress and humanitarian conditions throughout the Strip, specifically food distribution issues for Gazans and claims of alleged "starvation" in the Strip attributed to Israel – charges that Israel categorically denies.

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According to Bayefsky, the co-chairs of the conference, France and Saudi Arabia, are presenting the document as one intended to render the creation of a Palestinian state irreversible, sidestepping negotiations on core issues, so that UN member states will effectively dictate the outcome.

She contends that although the document will not explicitly declare recognition of a Palestinian state, its purpose is to ensure that this becomes a foregone conclusion. She says the term "action-oriented" is deliberately vague to enable the imposition of punitive measures on Israel, including economic sanctions and international isolation.

Bayefsky further reports that the final document will be predetermined and not subject to a vote or public negotiation during the conference. It will instead be presented at the event as a fait accompli.

She claims the organizers portray the document as the result of recent working groups that gathered input from NGOs and civil society, but in reality, the process was biased from the outset.

Bayefsky notes that her own organization, despite its consultative status with the UN, was not invited to these consultations, evidence, she says, of the skewed nature of the document's drafting process. According to her, invitations were extended only to groups that agreed in advance with the predetermined outcome. She adds that the likely source for invitees was lists of UN-associated bodies with ties to Palestinian rights, many of which are openly anti-Israel.

Bayefsky says the organizers are actively encouraging countries to announce recognition of a Palestinian state during the event itself. According to her, they have stated they would be "very pleased" if such declarations are made at the conference. In addition, she says the event will feature statements from "high-ranking international figures."

A clear attempt to sidestep US Involvement

Bayefsky points out that the final preparatory meeting before the conference took place yesterday (Wednesday) with representatives from most UN member states in attendance, despite appeals from the Trump administration urging them not to participate. She sees this as a clear attempt to bypass US involvement and undermine its traditional role in the two-state process.

According to her, the conference poses a serious challenge to the Trump administration's foreign policy. "The European Union, Canada, the UK, the Arab League, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and many other countries that rely on US aid are all taking part in this initiative," she wrote. In her words, "They are working to weaken America's standing and position the UN as the driving force shaping Middle East realities."

Bayefsky warns that the conference will embolden terrorism and fuel global antisemitism. "Empty declarations about 'peace' and 'human rights' will not conceal the distortion of truth and trampling of justice inherent in this move," she concluded.

It is important to clarify that a state is established through a UN Security Council resolution, and such a resolution will not pass due to the US veto. Nevertheless, a General Assembly resolution supporting such a state, as well as unilateral recognitions by other countries, have already occurred. Thus, this move presents a significant diplomatic challenge.

Nevertheless, while no senior representative of any state has yet announced their attendance, the French and Saudi co-chairs of the conference have said they expect participation of "world personalities."

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For nearly two decades, United Nations peacekeepers have watched helplessly as Hezbollah continues rearming along Israel's border since their last war. With Israel and Hezbollah now agreeing to a ceasefire after a year of fighting, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) once again finds itself central to peacekeeping efforts, yet remains unable to enforce a buffer zone between the parties, Wall Street Journal analysts say.

According to Lebanese officials, the deal includes a 60-day implementation period allowing Israeli forces to withdraw while the Lebanese military secures the border area and prevents Hezbollah from re-establishing an armed presence. An international committee, including UN peacekeepers, would monitor compliance.

But neither Lebanese forces nor UN troops could prevent Hezbollah from establishing combat positions in southern Lebanon and launching rockets across the border, as Israel responded with military overflights and occasional live fire. UN peacekeepers largely remained in their bases after coming under fire from both sides.

Israel maintains it must retain the freedom to strike at Hezbollah even post-ceasefire if it perceives the terrorist group as a threat. An Israeli official emphasized: "We're not talking about the dissolution of UNIFIL but also won't place the future security of northern Israel in UNIFIL's hands. We're not going back to Oct 6."

UNIFIL's challenging mandate dates to 1978, when Israel entered Lebanon after a Palestinian attack on a bus in central Israel killed 38 civilians, including 13 children. UNIFIL was tasked with monitoring Israeli military withdrawal and supporting Lebanese government security efforts in the volatile south.

By 1982, Israel was again engaged in Lebanon. Following the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, UNIFIL's responsibilities expanded to include monitoring Hezbollah's activities in southern Lebanon and supporting Lebanese military efforts under UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

UNIFIL reports violations to both the Lebanese army and Israel, which are responsible for addressing these issues, and to the UN secretary-general, who presents findings to the Security Council. However, Lebanon's army lacks sufficient funding and capabilities compared to Hezbollah, and the resolution provides limited mechanisms for enforcement.

Resolution 1701 faced immediate violations, and UNIFIL's mission grew increasingly complex. Despite conducting up to 10,000 monthly patrols, peacekeepers frequently reported restrictions on their movement and access to suspicious locations. The force cannot enter private property or detain civilians without Lebanese authorization.

Over the years, peacekeepers have faced mounting hostility and intimidation by Hezbollah and people in the south, who occasionally accuse them of spying for Israel and attack them. In 2010, UNIFIL reported an incident where Lebanese civilians attacked their 36-hour exercise, throwing stones, assaulting patrol leaders, damaging vehicles, and seizing weapons and ammunition.

In 2010, UNIFIL reported an explosion at a house in a village but said it couldn't determine the cause "as possible evidence was tampered with or removed before the UNIFIL investigation team was allowed access to the incident site." The Lebanese army was only allowed to enter after a standoff with villagers.

UNIFIL has achieved some success in defusing conflicts and has hosted meetings between the Lebanese army and Israel to prevent exchanges of fire. However, Hezbollah amassed so many arms near the border that the situation became unsustainable for Israel, said Richard Gowan, UN director at International Crisis Group. "It's been an open secret for quite a long time that you had Hezbollah operating in quite close proximity to UNIFIL," Gowan said.

The peacekeepers' last report to the UN before the Oct 7 attacks – dated July 2023 – highlights their ongoing challenges. They documented rocket fire, unauthorized weapons, Israeli airspace violations, tunnel construction, and a Hezbollah drill with rocket launchers and quadcopters, along with frequent harassment. A UN patrol was stopped in April by masked people and assaulted. The mission couldn't access suspicious border buildings belonging to an environmental group that the US and Israel accuse of being a Hezbollah front. Israeli tanks aimed guns at them several times, and lasers were pointed at them from both sides.

UNIFIL Spokesman Andrea Tenenti explained: "We go back to the limitation of the mission's mandate, what the mission can do and what we cannot do. But it's up to the Security Council to decide how to move forward. It's not up to the mission to take further steps that are not within the mission's mandate."

UNIFIL's observations have led to some action. In 2006, it reported finding weapons about weekly, including 17 Katyusha rocket launchers and a weapons cache. The Lebanese Armed Forces confiscated or destroyed these weapons after being notified.

Between December 2018 and April 2019, after Israeli notification, peacekeepers confirmed five tunnels, three crossing from Lebanon into Israel. They provided coordinates to Lebanese forces and urged them for months to fulfill Resolution 1701 commitments.

Former Israeli military liaison to UNIFIL Jonathan Conricus, now a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said UNIFIL told Israel it couldn't inspect tunnel locations without Lebanese military permission due to private property rights. When nothing happened after a month, Israeli forces pumped cement into one tunnel until it flooded a building and street on the Lebanese side.

From 2007 through 2022, the UN documented 22,355 Israeli airspace violations over Lebanon, according to the Earshot agency. Israeli officials say these flights are necessary for intelligence gathering due to UNIFIL's ineffective mandate fulfillment and inadequate reporting of Hezbollah's rearmament.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who helped negotiate the 2006 resolution, reflected on UNIFIL's difficult position by referencing classical Persian poetry: "You throw a man in the water, then blame him for being wet."

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Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan called the moment of silence held for the late President Ebrahim Raisi at the UN Security Council a "disgrace."

Video: X/@giladerdan1

The request for the somber tribute came from the Russian, Chinese, and Algerian UN missions during a Security Council session on preventing an arms race in outer space. Mozambique's Ambassador Pedro Comissario Afonso, presiding over the council this month, called upon the members to stand and observe the moment of silence in remembrance of Raisi and the other crash victims.

Notably, Robert Wood, the US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, was among the officials who stood for the solemn observance. Erdan held a sign that read "The Butcher of Iran will not be missed." In a video on X, Erdan stated: "The UN Security Council observed a moment of silence today in memory of the mass murdering Iranian President Raisi. This council, which has taken no real steps to advance the release of our hostages, bowed its head for a man responsible for massacring and murdering thousands in Iran, Israel, and around the world! What is next? Will the council dedicate a moment of silence to commemorate Hitler? The Security Council has become a threat to global peace and security."

One brave man, Ambassador Gilad Erdan,@giladerdan1

Vs.

Many coward clowns at the UN Secretary Council, holding a moment of silence for the death of President Raisi known as "Butcher of Tehran." pic.twitter.com/wqcm7qlt0f

— Marziyeh Amirizadeh مرضیه امیری زاده (@MAmirizadeh) May 20, 2024

 Raisi had earned the chilling moniker "Butcher of Tehran" for his involvement in the execution of thousands of Iranian protesters during the 1980s, casting a dark shadow over his presidential legacy. Raisi's tenure as President was further marred by widespread protests against the oppressive Iranian regime, sparked by the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Amini, a woman arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly, died in police custody, igniting nationwide demonstrations. Authorities ruthlessly suppressed these protests, resulting in at least 500 casualties and tens of thousands of arrests, according to reports.

Moreover, The Wall Street Journal has reported that Raisi played a pivotal role in the planning of the October 7 massacre, a horrific atrocity carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas, an Iranian proxy group. This devastating tragedy, considered the largest massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, claimed the lives of over 1,200 individuals and led to the kidnapping of more than 250 hostages, who were taken to Gaza.

The United States had previously imposed sanctions on Raisi in 2019 for human rights violations, including the executions he oversaw in the 1980s. The moment of silence observed at the UN Security Council has drawn sharp criticism from various quarters, highlighting the controversial legacy of the former Iranian President and the complex dynamics surrounding his remembrance on the global stage.

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Ambassador Alon Bar, Deputy Director-General for the United Nations and International Organizations at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned Belgian Deputy Ambassador to Israel Pascal Buffin to express outrage over the his country's "unprecedented" actions.

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Most recently, Belgium, which is presiding over the UNSC for the month of February, invited Brad Parker, Senior Adviser for Policy and Advocacy for Defense for Children – Palestine to brief the council.

DCI-P calls itself an organization defending the human rights of Palestinian children. It alleges Israel is committing war crimes by "torturing children" and supports the boycott, divest and sanctions movement. The organization has numerous ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terrorist group in the US, EU, Canada and Israel, to the extent that Citibank and Arab Bank stopped providing banking services to the NGO.

Parker has also called for senior Israelis to face trial at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Bar told Buffin that if Belgium is inviting someone such as Parker to address the UNSC, then it apparently shares his views.

According to the Foreign Ministry, this was not the first time Belgium has tried harming Israel at the Security Council. A year ago, the Belgians sought to introduce a resolution condemning Israel for the events in which 50 Palestinians were killed during riots over the inauguration of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. On other occasions, the country has welcomed radical anti-Israel figures to address the Security Council.

Israel Hayom has learned that in private discussions with Belgian officials, Israel's Ambassador to Belgium, Emmanuel Nahshon, asked that Parker's appearance at the UNSC be canceled, but was rebuffed.

Yinam Cohen, the director of the UN Political Affairs Department at the Foreign Ministry, told Israel Hayom: "It appears Belgium is making an effort to position itself as the most hostile country to Israel at the UNSC, and Parker's invitation is an all-time low in terms of this conduct."

Another Israeli diplomat said, "Our expectations of the Belgians are low to begin with, but this time even we're surprised."

In the wake of Parker's invitation, Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres calling DCI-P "an arm of the PFLP in order to enact diplomatic terror against Israel… A place that promotes peace and security in the world has no room for people like Parker."

Additionally, Israel's delegation to the UN intends to present intelligence information about DCI-P members' connections to terrorist activity.

Danon said that "Belgium is continuing to adopt an anti-Israel line in the UN, but must know that it will have a price. Israel's denigrators will enter a battle they weren't looking for."

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The complaint comes on the heels of Iran's recent attempt to carry out a drone strike from southwestern Syria, spearheaded by the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was thwarted by the IDF on Saturday night.

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"Iranian entrenchment and terrorist efforts on Syrian soil are intended to escalate the security situation in the region, under the direction of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani," the letter said.

"The Syrian regime knowingly permits Iran and its proxies to use its territory for the purpose of terrorist activity against the State of Israel and the Security Council must recognize Syria's responsibility for these terrorist attacks," Danon added.

In the letter, Israel also asked the Security Council to work toward securing a full withdrawal of Iranian military forces in Syria.

"Iran continues to threaten global security in general and the Middle East in particular by systematically violating UN Resolutions," Danon wrote, specifically citing the Islamic republic's contraventions of Security Council Resolutions 2231, 2216, 1701, 1559 and 1540.

"The international community needs to make it very clear to Iran that it will no longer tolerate its regional subversion and terrorist funding activities," Danon concluded.

On Saturday night, Israeli aircraft struck Iranian forces near Damascus that had been planning to launch "killer drones" at targets in Israel.

"The strike targeted Iranian Quds Force operatives and Shiite militias that had been preparing advance attacks targeting sites in Israel from within Syria," IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus told reporters.

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Unanimously adopting Resolution 2474, the UN's top body called upon parties in armed conflict to take all appropriate measures to actively search for individuals reported missing, to enable the return of their remains and to account for persons reported missing "without adverse distinction."

Briefing the Security Council after the resolution's adoption, Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said that last year alone more than 45,000 people were registered as missing by the ICRC's Central Tracing Agency, and that this figure was the tip of the iceberg.

"Every time someone goes missing, families wait for answers.  Ricocheting between hope and despair, they mark anniversaries, 1 year, 2 years, 10 years," he said.

Israel's delegation to the UN welcomed the resolution.

The Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization is holding the remains of two Israeli ‎soldiers, Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar ‎Goldin, killed in the Gaza Strip in 2014. Ethiopian ‎Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Israeli Hisham ‎al-Sayed, both suffering from mental health issues, ‎crossed into Gaza willingly in 2014 and 2015 and ‎were captured by the terrorist group.‎

Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, said, "The fight in the UN to bring our boys home is never over. We will also use this resolution as leverage to pressure the international community to continue working for the release of Hadar Goldin, Oron Shaul and all of our others being held captive and missing."

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