Netanyahu scoring an own goal against Israel with Danon appointment
Op-ed: Danny Danon is as right wing as one can be: He opposes the two-state solution, wants to annex the entire West Bank but give no civil rights to the Palestinians and in general, he's the wet dream of every Israeli hater. So why is Netanyahu sending him to represent Israel at the UN?
Danny Danon is a serious man, who has a very clear and solid worldviews. He's not just another right-winger, he is the rightest of the right. He supports annexing the territories; he supports the further expansion of settlements, and not just in the main blocs; he is actually against the term "settlement blocs"; he is against the two-state solution; he staged a campaign against Netanyahu's too soft - in his opinion - policy against Hamas; and above all, Danon is a perfect representation of the wet dream of every Israeli hater. This is how they love to hate us. Now, Danon is moving to Israel's display window. They can't possible ask for a better gift.
Danon caused quite a lot of problems for Netanyahu in the Likud party, so Netanyahu had to get rid of him. When faced with the choice between Netanyahu's narrow political interests and Israel's national interests - Netanyahu once again chose Netanyahu. Israel loses.
It's not that an excellent ambassador at the UN, a combination of Abba Eban and Yaakov Herzog, would have made Sweden vote in favor of Israel. But Israel's ambassador to the UN is a sort of a symbol.
So far, Danon represented the dazed right wing, now he's representing Israel.
Ron Prosor, the current ambassador, is doing an amazing job. He's not nice, professionally. Far from it. He knows how to be blunt and aggressive. But he also knows that speaking in support of outposts, for example, is like scoring an own goal against the national interest.
Israel is facing a massive campaign of demonization and de-legitimization, but the problem is not with the extremists in the core of the BDS movement - they're a lost cause. The fight against them, however, is not. When their true faces are revealed - they're against peace, they're against the two-state solution, they want the destruction of Israel, they lie incessantly - they can be fought against.
But what exactly is Danon going to say? That he's also against the two-state solution? That he is both in favor of annexation and against giving civil rights to Palestinians? It would be a hard sale even to the worshipers at the Orthodox synagogues of New York. But this is what Danon is selling.
Israel's biggest defenders in North America are Professor Alan Dershowitz and Irwin Cotler. They know how to deal with every claim against Israel. Well, almost. Because there is still no serious audience, and that includes supporters of Israel, that is willing to buy the positions held by our new ambassador to the UN.
Danon might have been able to serve as the Likud's emissary to the Chabad institutions in Brooklyn, but an official representative of Israel?
When Avigdor Lieberman said Israel should accept John Kerry's peace deal draft a year and a half ago, it was Danny Danon who put his foot down to Netanyahu and clarified he will not allow that to happen. When Naftali Bennett is talking about annexing Area C of the West Bank, Danon is talking about an annexation of even more territories. So Netanyahu decided to appoint him, of all people, to represent Israel?
It was only a few weeks ago that Netanyahu declared the anti-Israel campaign was a serious threat. He's right. But it was also Netanyahu that fired Danon, because he knows his positions only serve to bolster the anti-Israel campaign. It's easy to understand why Netanyahu wants to get rid of him. But why is he punishing Israel?
I wonder what's next. Is Daniella Weiss on her way to become Israel's ambassador to the European Union?
