About ten days ago, a highly unusual scene unfolded at the United Nations: Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon and Vanessa Frazier, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, got into a public shouting match, with Danon telling Frazier, “You will be quiet now!”
What began as a tense exchange over a UN report has since escalated into a broader fight, with Danon now calling for Frazier to be fired. In this episode of To Save Us From Hell, Mark Leon Goldberg and Anjali Dayal unpack what is driving this confrontation, why it matters inside the UN system, and whether Israel is seeking to deflect attention from the substance of reports containing credible allegations of human rights and international law violations.
They also discuss the newest entrant in the race for UN Secretary-General, Guyana’s UN Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, and explain how the UN managed to stave off a financial crisis in July.
