Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, called on Wednesday for reforms to the Security Council’s working methods.
The ambassador warned that the mechanism for convening emergency meetings has lost its original purpose and has become a political tool repeatedly used against Israel, rather than a means of addressing the most serious threats to international peace and security.
In his remarks, Ambassador Danon presented an Israeli proposal for reform under which convening an emergency meeting would require the support of three Security Council members, rather than a request from a single member. The proposal also calls for clear criteria to determine when circumstances genuinely warrant an emergency meeting.
Ambassador Danon noted that over the past four years, the Security Council has held approximately 100 meetings concerning Israel, including at least 17 emergency sessions. By contrast, Iranian aggression, Houthi attacks on international shipping routes, Hamas holding hostages, and Turkey’s military entrenchment in Syria have rarely prompted emergency meetings.
“The Security Council has become very good at holding meetings, but very bad at making a difference. Instead of focusing its time on Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, it is repeatedly drawn into political theater. The Security Council was not created to hold fruitless meetings. It was created to prevent wars. It is time to return to the mission for which it was established," he said.
Ambassador Danon stressed that the Security Council’s success should be measured by results, not by the number of meetings it holds: Has terrorism been weakened? Has the next escalation been prevented? Is the world safer as a result of the Council’s actions?
“[The Council’s] purpose should not simply be to meet. Its purpose should be to make the world safer," he stated.