Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, harshly criticized UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, accusing him of exploiting the chaos in Syria as an opportunity to again censure Israel.
Guterres had issued a statement earlier expressing concern over the intensifying conflict in Syria, saying he was “alarmed” by the worsening violence and strongly condemning any harm directed at civilians. Yet in the same breath, he went on to say, “I condemn Israel’s escalatory airstrikes and reports of the IDF’s redeployment of forces in the Golan. I call for an immediate cessation of all violations of Syria’s sovereignty & territorial integrity.”
Danon responded sharply to the remarks, declaring, “UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres continues to expose his moral bankruptcy. While members of the Druze community are being brutally slaughtered in Syria, he once again chooses silence.”
Rather than demand urgent action to stop the bloodshed in Syria, Danon argued, Guterres once again chose to attack the one nation standing up to the region’s worst aggressors. “Instead of calling for swift action in Syria, he chooses to vilify Israel—the only country actively fighting the forces of evil in the region,” Danon said.
He pointed to what he sees as a persistent pattern of bias at the United Nations. “The UN failed to condemn Hamas following the horrors of October 7th. And now, after the massacre of the Druze in Syria, the shameful silence continues,” he stated.
Danon’s comments followed a series of Israeli military actions in Syria earlier in the day. The IDF carried out targeted strikes on key Syrian regime facilities, including the central government’s headquarters and the presidential palace in Damascus. These operations came in response to the Syrian army’s brutal assault on the Druze population in the south.
Guterres has consistently voiced strong opposition to Israel’s defensive measures against terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Following Hamas’s October 7 massacre, Guterres remarked that the attack “did not happen in a vacuum,” a statement widely interpreted as suggesting that Israel bore responsibility. Though backlash followed, he later insisted his comments had been misunderstood and that he had in fact condemned Hamas.
In more recent weeks, Guterres criticized Israel’s renewed military campaign in Gaza, saying he was “outraged” by the escalation. His comments drew an angry rebuke from Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote in response, “We are outraged that you, Antonio Guterres, are the Secretary-General of the UN.”
Marmorstein continued, “Not a word about the fact that Hamas rejected two American proposals to extend the ceasefire and release more hostages—two proposals that Israel accepted.”
He added, “Not a word about the fact that Hamas exploits the transfer of goods to Gaza to rebuild its war machine in order to further attack Israel.”
Concluding with a forceful condemnation, Marmorstein wrote, “Not a word about UNRWA, which, under your leadership, employs Hamas terrorists, and its facilities were used by Hamas to hold hostages. Indeed, we are outraged by your moral bankruptcy.”
{Matzav.com}
The UN and ICC only target Israel.