Israel’s UN ambassador calls for sexual violence envoy’s resignation after blacklist dispute

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, publicly demanded on Saturday that Pramila Patten, the UN secretary-general’s special representative on sexual violence, resign. The confrontation took place at an official UN event in New York marking the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, and it turned into a noisy uproar when another UN representative tried to interrupt Danon’s remarks.

Danon used the platform to protest Israel’s inclusion on the UN blacklist and accused Patten of backing what he called a political move against Israel. Vanessa Frazier, the secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict and the official behind the report that placed Israel on the children-related blacklist, attempted to cut him off, sparking shouting in the chamber. Danon continued anyway, saying, “Israel was placed on the blacklist alongside Hamas, ISIS and Boko Haram. This is a moral disgrace that will be remembered as one of the greatest stains on António Guterres’s legacy.”

He then addressed Patten directly, arguing that she had not personally verified the evidence used in the report and did not give Israel a chance to challenge the claims. “If fact-checking is not Patten’s job, then what exactly is her job?” he asked. He added, “You knew Israel cooperated. You knew you did not check the evidence. And yet you chose to stand behind this lie. You should have said no. You should have resigned.”

The public clash came weeks after the UN released its annual report, which for the first time since monitoring began included Israeli security forces on the blacklist of parties suspected of responsibility for sexual violence in conflicts, alongside Hamas operatives and Russia. The report said it documented patterns of sexual violence against dozens of Palestinian detainees, including women, boys and one girl from Gaza and the West Bank, alleging group rape, violence against genitals and invasive strip searches by IDF, Prison Service and police personnel. Israel rejected the allegations outright, saying the Foreign Ministry had already thoroughly rebutted them and that the report showed institutional UN hostility toward Israel. The UN report also described serious sexual crimes by Hamas, but said Israel was blocking independent investigators from examining those cases. Israel said it had sent the UN detailed documents and responses disproving the claims against its treatment of detainees.