Israeli Ambassador and UN Official Clash Over Sexual Violence Blacklist

(Central News Agency, New York UN Headquarters, June 19, Combined Foreign Reports) Diplomatic etiquette was breached at a public meeting at the United Nations today, with Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, and the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, Pramila Patten, engaging in a heated exchange.

According to Reuters, Danon accused UN official Pramila Patten of bias at a meeting in New York commemorating the "International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict" and demanded her resignation.

Patten released a report last month that, for the first time, blacklisted Israel for alleged incidents of sexual violence. Danon described it as a "new low," and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs threatened to sever all ties with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will step down at the end of the year after completing his 10-year term.

Danon told Patten today, "You have succumbed to the Secretary-General's obsession with Israel."

Vanessa Frazier, raising a point of order, interrupted the speech, asking Danon to avoid "personal attacks" and stating that she held "verified evidence." She is the compiler of another report that also blacklisted Israel.

Danon, in turn, told Frazier to be quiet. He said, "We are a member state, and you work for the UN, so please be quiet now, be quiet... and your disgraceful report."

Frazier, a former Maltese Ambassador to the UN, released a report this week on behalf of Guterres, warning that Israeli settler groups could be blacklisted globally for abuses against children. Guterres also expressed deep concern over the "shocking" increase in alleged abuses against Palestinian children.

Israel itself has been included in the appendix of the report's so-called "list of shame" for alleged abuses.

Both reports also blacklisted Israel's arch-enemy, Hamas. (Compiled by Lu Ying-tzu) 1150620

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