Security Council Media Stakeout: Ambassador Danny Danon, Permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, is going to deliver a brief statement ahead of this afternoon's General Assembly session. He will take questions afterwards, just remember to state your name and news outlet.

Thanks. Good afternoon. In one hour at 5 p.m. our time. A 10 day ceasefire will come into effect between Israel and Lebanon as Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed. We got to this point as a result of the IDF's heroic actions in pushing back Hezbollah. In many operations including the Page of attacks and the elimination of Naswala. But before we will speak about what we'll see in the General Assembly today, I have to address the outrageous remarks made earlier this week by the UN Secretary General Guterres. On the very day Israel and Lebanon were engaged in historic negotiations, he went so far as to claim that Israel and Hezbollah have, and I quote, helped each other to destabilize Lebanon. That is simply false. At a historic moment. When the region is taking steps to direct dialogue between Israel and Lebanon. When others are choosing progress, the secretary general chose to do exactly the opposite. He chose to cast doubt. He chose to blur the truth. He chose to draw a comparison between a sovereign state and a terrorist organization. That is shameful So let's ask the question. On what basis? On what moral ground does the Secretary General equate a democracy defending its citizens with an Iranian-backed terrorist proxy? There is no answer to that. To put them in the same category is a complete distortion of reality. Secretary General Guterres. This is shameful. Retract your comments, correct the record, do your job. Separately What we are seeing right now in the Strait of Hormuz should concern every country in the General Assembly. Iran is trying to choke one of the world's most important waterways and turn it into weapons. They block ships, they harass them, then they name a price. Pay and you pass, refuse, and you are stopped. That is not trade. That is economic terrorism. We know it affects our economies. And look what happened here. After weeks of negotiations. Even a stripped down Security Council resolution was vetoed. So we have to be clear about what comes next. We need a clear resolution, strong one. One that will deal with the enriched uranium, with the ballistic missiles, with the proxies. That's what we expect from the Security Council. But there is one thing that is very troubling. that some countries choose to go behind closed doors and sign secret deals with the Iranian regime. No transparency, no accountability. It's also shameful. Last week we heard reports that the Iranian regime was charging $1 million per ship for passage. This week the price went up to $2 million. What will happen next week, $5 million? That's extortion. And today I will ask my colleagues in the General Assembly to expose those agreements to tell us what they were willing to pay in order to pass in the traits. Thank you very much.

Uh, thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador Edith. From the Associated Press, uh, Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that Israeli forces will remain in a wider area in southern Lebanon. Hama Hezbollah has said that it will not stop. Fighting until all Israeli forces are out, um. As this ceasefire is expected to start now, um, What's your reaction to that possibility?

It is, we will have to follow very carefully what's happening on the ground, uh, and if we will feel threatened, we will react, you know, we are not going anywhere. We are holding our positions. Uh, we agreed for 10 days holding those positions, having a ceasefire, uh, and we all know that, you know, the problem is not with the Lebanese government, the problem is with Hezbollah, and it will be challenging. We believe in direct negotiation with Lebanon, but we are aware of the complexity. That you deal with the Lebanese government, but Hezbollah, they don't take orders from the Lebanese government, they take orders from Iran. We know it's, it's complex, but we are willing to give it a try.

What kind of negotiations are you expecting to take place? Another round in Washington perhaps?

Well, uh, uh, we had, uh, on Tuesday a meeting in, uh, Washington. I want to thank Secretary Rubio and his team for their efforts. Uh, Prime Minister Netanyahu raised the opportunity of coming to Washington to have discussions in Washington, DC. We are open. We are open to negotiate. We want to see peace between Israel and Lebanon, but as I said earlier, we know that it's complicated because Hezbollah is very involved in the Lebanese government, very involved on the ground, and the Lebanese government will have to stretch their muscles and apply sovereignty over Lebanon.

Good afternoon, Ambassador Chris Reyes with the Canadian Broadcasting. Prime Minister Netanyahu said today that he expects that President Trump will be inviting him and the Lebanese president to meet. There are reports that the Lebanese president has been hesitant to have this meeting. Are you confident that this meeting will take place and Can you share timelines on when the next meetings will take place between uh your country and Lebanon?

No, I, I, I think it's too early, you know, we will come to any meeting to promote peace, but I cannot speak, uh, for the Lebanese government. We know that they're under pressure and threats, uh, from Iran, and I will show you the one example they decided to expel the Iranian ambassador from Beirut, a very clear decision. The ambassador is still in Beirut, very active there trying to run the show instead of the Lebanese government, so we will have to see what they are doing, but I would advise them, you know, to apply sovereignty, to be strong, and, and to take advantage of the situation that we created on the ground that we have weakened Iran and Hezbollah today. When do you hope the next meeting will take place? You know, we, I, I don't have a timetable, but whenever the president will call us, we will come. Thank you very much.