How Danny Danon Went From Israel's Rebel to Top Diplomat
Source: The Jewish Daily Forward
Young, brash and ambitious, Danny Danon has built his reputation in the cauldron of Israeli politics by sidelining the international community, openly criticizing the president of the United States, and kicking aside the cornerstone of Israel’s agreement with the outside world: the acceptance of a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.
But now Danon is trading in his rebel public persona for the hat of a diplomat. That could present a formidable task for him as he settles in as Israel’s new ambassador to the United Nations. Long considered one of the Likud party’s enfants terribles , he is known for a quick-on-the-draw readiness to attack Israel’s rivals and allies, and even his own party’s leadership. Danon’s public statements have veered so far away from the Likud mainstream that they won him a rebuke from Israel’s right-wing ambassador to Washington and later got him sacked from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
How he will represent that government in the sometimes-hostile halls of the U.N. and build relationships with the allies Israel desperately needs will determine whether Israel can hold its own on the global stage. Why he was given the post in the first place reflects either deep cynicism, clever politics or both on the part of the prime minister he now serves.
Though he was not scheduled to present his diplomatic credentials to the U.N. until October, Danon had, by late September, already started making the rounds in Turtle Bay, telling counterparts and colleagues that while he has not abandoned his beliefs, for the next few years he’ll toe a different line.
Read more: http://forward.com/news/israel/321903/how-danny-danon-went-from-israels-rebel-to-top-diplomat/
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