Israeli envoy to UN says Trump win offers opportunity to put kibosh on ICC, ICJ probes
Danny Danon tells ToI he expects president-elect to pressure global bodies that hold Israel to double standard, speculates lame duck Biden won’t back UNSC ceasefire resolution
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said Thursday that Donald Trump’s election presents an opportunity to neutralize the cases against Israel in the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
“We expect the US to put pressure on these bodies that hold a double standard… against Israel, and I’m sure that we will receive moral backing from the new administration,” Danon said in an interview with The Times of Israel.
The ICC’s top prosecutor is seeking to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and the ICJ is investigating whether Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in its prosecution of the ongoing war against Hamas.
The Biden administration has come out against both the ICC and ICJ efforts, but it has not gone as far as to sanction either body and even lifted sanctions Trump placed on the ICC in 2020. Danon’s comments indicated Jerusalem’s desire for the president-elect to reverse that move.
Asked how he expects the second Trump administration to interact with the UN and its agencies, Danon said it will depend on who the president-elect appoints.
Former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman has been floated as a potential envoy to the UN. He has called the body “morally bankrupt” and has called for shutting down UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Congress passed legislation barring US funding to UNRWA until March 2025, amid revelations that several staffers at the agency took part in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught. Pressed whether Trump’s election allows for that ban to be made permanent, Danon said Israel wants to ensure that US humanitarian assistance “does not end up in the hands of terrorists, which includes UNRWA in Gaza.”
For his part, Trump has spoken repeatedly in recent months about his desire to see Israel quickly end the war in Gaza. Two sources familiar with the matter revealed to The Times of Israel last month that Trump told Netanyahu that he wants the war wrapped up by the time he enters office.
Indicating that stance is not a matter of concern for Israel, Danon pointed out that Trump has also spoken about the need for the remaining 101 hostages to be released.
“So if we succeed in bringing about an initiative that secures their release, we can talk about ending the war,” Danon said.
However, he acknowledged that releasing the hostages alone won’t be enough for Israel to agree to end the war, because it is also committed to dismantling Hamas’s governing and military capabilities.
Asked why Hamas would agree to cede control of Gaza in addition to releasing all of the hostages, Danon claimed the terror group is heading in that direction following the accomplishments that the IDF has made on the battlefield.
“Time is taking its toll and today you can see where Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif are,” the ambassador said, referring to Hamas’s politburo and military chiefs killed by Israel in recent months.
Their deaths have not led to a breakthrough in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal thus far.
“It’s possible that they wouldn’t want to agree (to both release the hostages and surrender control of Gaza), but we’re heading in that direction,” Danon asserted.
In the short term, the envoy acknowledged that Israel has entered a challenging period as the US transitions between presidents.
In 2016, Danon was ambassador when the US allowed the passage of a Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“I assume there will be an effort to test [US President Joe Biden] before the end of his term… Not necessarily regarding settlements. It could be [a resolution] about a ceasefire [in Gaza] or about upgrading the status of the Palestinians at the UN,” Danon said.
The Palestinians have long sought to obtain full-member status at the UN, though, US officials have told The Times of Israel in recent months that Biden is unlikely to back efforts to unilaterally recognize Palestinian statehood.
In the meantime, the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council have been advancing another resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Danon criticized the draft, which doesn’t directly link a ceasefire to the release of the hostages.
The text states that the Security Council “Demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire to be respected by all parties.” The next paragraph “reiterates [the] demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
Danon speculated that the US would not support the resolution in this form.
In March, though, the US allowed a similar resolution to pass that called for a ceasefire over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Then too, there wasn’t explicit conditionality between an end to the war and a release of the hostages. However, that text included the two issues in the same sentence, whereas in the latest draft they are separated by paragraphs. Israel fumed at the passage of the September resolution, but it went unimplemented anyway.
Danon suggested that he wasn’t concerned the Biden administration could allow other resolutions to pass during the lame-duck period
“At the moment, the [US] support is there,” he said.
Regardless, he said his office will need to remain on alert even after Trump’s inauguration, given that it will take several months before his appointees will take up their posts.
“We have to make sure no facts on the ground are established during this time,” Danon said.
He argued that Israel’s top concern is Iranian aggression and that he will urge intensified global sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“Iran still has a lot of money, and it uses it not only to harm Israel but the stability of the entire Middle East,” he said, pointing to the Tehran-backed Houthis attacks that have “paralyzed” Red Sea shipping routes and “given Iran an appetite to continue this conduct in other places.”
