
With President Donald Trump set to take office, we spoke with Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon about his expectations from his work with his incoming American counterpart Elise Stafanik, partially based on his impressions from conversations with her.
Danon tells us about the celebratory atmosphere in the frozen American capital ahead of Trump's inauguration and says: "I certainly hear a commitment to Israel's security and our interests. Over the past few hours Republicans raised concern that the UN Security Council may pass a last-minute anti-Israel resolution, which didn't happen. But there is certainly concern for Israel and I estimate there will be cooperation with the ambassador and the President's new appointments who recognize and support Israel and I expect they will stand by our side."
Asked why he is so firm in his hope for such a partnership, Danon says: "These people know Israel and the issue well and they don't need to learn about them. They are also committed. Yesterday I met with (incoming) Ambassador Huckabee who is coming to Jerusalem and he doesn't hide this commitment, he states his opinions very clearly, and we have a long list of issues such as Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, the hostages, Gaza. All these issues come up in meetings and we see that there is who to speak to. There is a commitment and it certainly strengthens us."
This being said, we ask Danon about the disagreements between part of the Republican Party and Israel's stances, for instance, the post published by Trump that accused Netanyahu of dragging the US into wars. Is it not worrying? "Like in any relationship, the sides won't always agree on everything. Our interests are not exactly identical, but in essence and principle, there is an understanding that Israel went through something significant. Yesterday, we all felt the scenes of the hostages who returned and the hugs, that can't be ignored, but in all the interviews they asked me about the risks we took and the release of terrorists. There is concern for Israel and it's felt in Israel.
In regard to the hostage deal, we asked if its timing was not worrying, since if Trump's threats were only aimed at Hamas, one could assume that Netanyahu would have waited a few days to accept a deal with much better conditions. The fact that Netanyahu accepted the deal before Trump took office, shows a concern that the President-elect's threats on Israel were just as severe as those on Hamas.
"I don't think there were US threats on Israel. In the end, we made a decision in Jerusalem. We wanted the involvement of both administrations before the end of the term and we accepted it happily. It was the government's decision," Danon answered and noted that in the end, the one making the decisions is "the Israeli government and no one else. History is full of decisions made in Jerusalem that those in Washington were unhappy about. In the end, the decisions are those of the Israeli government by our discretion and interests. We give consideration to requests, but we are the ones who face the consequences of any security issue, good and bad, and that's what will happen. The Prime Minister and government ministers are committed to Israel's security and that is what leads them."
We also ask Danon if he sees a basis for the feeling that if Israel would indeed return to fight in Gaza, the war would look different with Trump in the White House. "We look at the people who will be in the various positions. Their confirmations in the Senate were riveting, they asked them tough questions and both the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense made clear statements about our right to act, to destroy, and to eliminate Hamas. In the end, we will need to make decisions but I didn't hear any conditions or threats, rather the opposite, support for Israel.
"The UN is a tough and hostile arena now, I believe the new administration will give substantial support to lead processes against the UN. We have to remember that the UN's funding comes from the US and therefore there are levers that the US can utilize and very soon we will hear about a different policy of the new administration."