Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, is calling for the removal of a senior U.N. official, accusing her of anti-Israel bias, amplifying antisemitic content and repeatedly promoting unverified claims about the Jewish state.
The dispute stems from a heated confrontation on June 19 between Danon and Vanessa Frazier, the U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict and Malta’s former U.N. ambassador. During a U.N. event marking the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Frazier repeatedly interrupted Danon as he challenged the findings of a report by Pramila Patten, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict. Reuters reported that the exchange escalated into a shouting match.
Danon criticized Patten’s recent report, which for the first time placed Israeli security forces on the U.N.’s annual blacklist of parties suspected of conflict-related sexual violence, alongside groups such as Hamas, ISIS and Boko Haram. Israel has strongly rejected the allegations.
Patten had conceded to the media that it is not the job of her office to verify claims in the report, and Danon accused her of acquiescing to demands by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to blacklist Jerusalem.
Frazier broke protocol by shouting at Danon in defense of her co-worker, with the envoy telling her to be quiet or leave.
The clash resurfaced on Wednesday before the U.N. Security Council’s annual debate on children and armed conflict, where Frazier was scheduled to brief member states on the secretary-general’s latest report. The report again included Israel in its annexes for alleged grave violations against children during armed conflict.
“Vanessa Frazier believed she would arrive at the Security Council to present yet another biased report against Israel,” Danon told reporters before the meeting. “But before she even began speaking, her true record came to light.”
Danon highlighted a series of Frazier’s social-media posts as examples of her engaging with antisemitic content online.
Among them was an exchange on X following last week’s confrontation. After an account responded to a Danon post with an Israeli flag altered to include a swastika, Frazier replied: “I look forward to constructive engagement—together we can eliminate this scourge and do justice to all victims and survivors.”
Danon also pointed to a March social-media post in which Frazier shared a photograph from Iran’s 2022 protest crackdown while suggesting it depicted children killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes. While the post was deleted, Frazier later shared almost the same text—minus “ceasefire now”—this time with a new photo from a BBC article.
A social-media user with no bio and 18 followers wrote, “Well said, Vanessa. Genocide of innocent children. No ifs and buts by Zionists.”
“If they are attacking the photo and not the message, then it is clear that my message was strong,” the U.N. official wrote in response. “Plus the photo was still representative of the result of the attack—bodies in bags—whether it was from that attack or not.”
Danon also drew attention to a post by Frazier on June 18, retweeting a well-known British Holocaust denier and Hamas supporter who claimed Israel has been disguising cluster munitions as toys and dropping them in Lebanon.
“If this is true, it means that there is a deliberate, premeditated intent to kill children...let that sink in,” Frazier wrote, without indicating that the allegation had been verified.
“Someone who engages with antisemitic content, amplifies blood libels and spreads false information cannot present herself as a professional and impartial official,” Danon said. “Vanessa Frazier is not an isolated case. She reflects a culture within parts of the United Nations where hostility toward Israel too often outweighs a commitment to truth.”
‘Appropriate accountability measures’
Later on Wednesday, Danon sent a letter to Security Council members calling for a review of Frazier’s employment. He said it was the third letter he had submitted regarding her conduct.
“Taken together with my previous correspondence, these incidents suggest a troubling pattern of engagement with unverified, disputed, or misleading material, alongside content raising concerns of antisemitic framing and extremist rhetoric,” Danon wrote. “Such conduct risks undermining confidence in the neutrality of the Secretariat and doesn’t meet the minimum standard of professionalism and impartiality.”
Danon said Jerusalem expects “appropriate accountability measures,” including consideration of Frazier’s continued suitability for office.
During the Security Council debate, Israel faced criticism from several member states, including Colombia, Pakistan and Russia.
Jennifer Locetta, the U.S. alternate representative for special political affairs, placed responsibility for the suffering of children in Gaza on Hamas.
“You cannot talk about the situation in Gaza without mentioning Hamas,” she said. “Hamas is a terror organization willing to use civilians, including children, as human shields.”
Locetta also criticized the annual children-and-armed-conflict report for what she described as falsely equating the actions of U.S. forces with those of Houthi terrorists and cited that concern in defending Washington’s decision to suspend participation in Frazier’s office.
Addressing the council, Danon returned repeatedly to Frazier’s conduct.
“While Ms. Frazier wants to talk about personal attacks, I want to talk about her record,” he said before displaying several of the posts he cited as evidence of bias.
“And now you come before this council with your report accusing Israel. Why should anyone trust your findings?” he asked, calling her “proof of the moral failure that has taken hold of the U.N., where Israel is accused before it is heard, condemned before it is answered.”
Danon also challenged the methodology behind the annual report, arguing that it exaggerates alleged Israeli violations while minimizing or failing to attribute abuses committed by Palestinian terrorist organizations.
“Israel is not asking this council to ignore allegations,” Danon said. “Israel is asking this council to test them.”
