Israel seeks ‘knowledgeable and strong’ candidate for next UN chief
'Diplomacy is an uphill battle and we're here to fight it,' Danon said, referring to the diplomatic issues Israel has had over the past several years
This year's UN General Assembly will elect the organization's next Secretary-General and Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told i24NEWS' 'On The Record' that his team is already in talks to find a suitable candidate.
Danon said the main qualities they were searching for were "knowledge and strength."
"The UN must be reformed and go back to its core values," Danon said. Looking back at the last 10 years under Antonio Guterres, Danon said he had mixed views. In the beginning, Guterres was objective and fair, but said that "very quickly the machine took over" and he became biased and ineffective.
When pressed on who he thought would be suitable as a replacement, he declined to name anyone specific but did say "we are looking for someone knowledgeable and strong enough to save the organization."
"I hope the next UN secretary-general will be strong enough to reform the UN," Danon said. "The US supports the new reform."
He did say that former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet would be "problematic" because she was very hostile to Israel, adding that she has no support from the current government of Chile.
Danon addressed the current issues between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying "Mamdani will not stop Netanyahu coming to New York and speaking at the general assembly."
He said Mamdani should be relieved as Netanyahu does not plan to spend much time in New York and is planning to return immediately afterward to celebrate Sukkot in Israel.
"Diplomacy is an uphill battle and we're here to fight it," Danon said, referring to the diplomatic issues Israel has had over the past several years.
But Danon didn't seem worried, saying, "Most problems with Western countries are due to domestic politics, not the situation on the ground."
Danon said that he is proud of Israel's democracy, adding, "You don't see many democracies today where you don't know the outcome ahead of time, we should cherish our democracy." However, he said that as a diplomat, he is staying out of this round of elections.