Danon says Netanyahu’s UN speech to feature ‘vision on how to confront Iran’ amid ‘tough period for Israel’

UNITED NATIONS — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will “present his vision on how to confront Iran, and what actions should be taken,” UN Ambassador Danny Danon tells The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu, says Danon, “will prove his case” on Iran, and that the “surprises” Netanyahu touted ahead of the speech will include new evidence of Iran’s misbehavior.

Danon, referring to ongoing US-Iran fighting, stresses that confronting Iran is ” not only the White House’s responsibility, it should be the responsibility of the entire Western civilization.”

Danon acknowledges that Netanyahu will try to get his message through in a very difficult environment for Israel. Polls show public opinion of the country sinking to historic lows amid the war in Gaza and fighting on other fronts.

“It’s a tough period for Israel after three years of war,” he says, adding, “the hostility is not about Netanyahu. It’s about Israel.”

Danon denies there is any significance to Netanyahu not meeting with US President Donald Trump or any other senior US officials on his brief trip: “Netanyahu has met with him eight times since he returned to office, more than any other world leader. They met two months ago, and they speak all the time.”

He says he has been in touch with his fellow diplomat, Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, since hearing about Leiter’s son Neria being seriously injured yesterday in a ramming attack.

“He was supposed to be here with me,” says Danon. “We are all praying for Neria’s recovery.”

Danon says the attack underscores the inflammatory nature of French President Emmanuel Macron’s remark in his UN speech yesterday that Hamas does not operate in the West Bank.