Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, hosted a ceremony on Tuesday recognizing the nation’s 77th Independence Day at the Israeli Mission to the United Nations in New York City.
He said at the private event that the commemoration of the Jewish state’s independence is not just a celebration but a reflection of the country’s enduring resilience, especially as dozens of hostages remain in captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Even 77 years later, we are still asked to justify our existence. We are still fighting to defend the very right of our people to live in safety and security,” he said. “This Independence Day, we still feel the terrible weight of the darkest day in our nation’s modern history: Oct. 7.”
Despite facing ongoing threats, Israel has still become a global leader in innovation, according to Danon.
“Israel is not a footnote of history,” he said. “Israel is a force of history. We returned, we rebuilt, and we refuse to be broken.”
Robert Kraft, founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, said at the event that his organization is spending $60 million annually on education initiatives to battle rising Jew-hatred.
“Fighting hate is not a Jewish problem,” he said. “It’s a problem for all minorities, religions and skin colors.”
“Jewish people were being attacked in American cities, synagogues were being defaced, and online platforms were flooded with Holocaust denial,” he continued. “A lot of good people just stayed silent. It was imperative that we do something to ensure our country, which I still believe is the greatest in the world, did not start to look like Germany in the 1940s.”
Kraft, who received the $1 million Genesis Prize in 2019, said the rise in antisemitism across the United States prompted him to launch the foundation later that year.
“Join us in standing up against hate, not just for the Jewish people, but for all people,” he said. “That will make the world a better place, and I believe it’s the reason the United Nations was created in the first place.”
