According to Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. matters are different in Israel following the Hamas attacks last October.
"We are familiar with the position of the administration about the two-state solution," Danon said in an exclusive interview with Newsmax's John Glasgow. "But your reality today in Israel ... is a different reality after Oct. 7."
The issue isn't only about the Hamas terrorists, but the Palestinian Authority as well, he added.
"They are the ones who are supposed to be our partners for the future," said Danon. "They haven't condemned the atrocities of Oct. 7."
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian National Authority is to speak before the United Nations on Tuesday, but Danon said he "will not say one word against Hamas, against the atrocities, or about the hostages."
This means that many Israelis will continue to doubt that their nation has a "real partner" to support its efforts.
"One day we hope we can have a partner," said Danon. "We are a peaceful nation. We signed a peace treaty with Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, and hopefully Saudi Arabia in the near future. But [we] need to have a peaceful partner today. [We] don't have one."
Biden also on Tuesday called for a cease-fire and to bring the Hamas-held hostages home, as unity is needed.
"We are grateful for the support we receive from the U.S. in the negotiations to release our hostages," said Danon, but he stressed that Hamas does not want to reach a deal.
"In May, in August, we said yes and Hamas said no," said Danon. "So, you know, you have goodwill coming from the U.S. and other countries, but it's not enough because [Hamas leader] Yahya] Sinwar and the other terrorists, they don't care about that."
Still, Danon said he does think progress is being made on both fronts, "with Lebanon pushing Hezbollah from our border and putting the pressure on Hamas," and results will come soon.
Danon would not comment Tuesday on last week's pager and two-way radio explosions in Lebanon, which has been blamed on Israel.
Democrat Leon Panetta has compared the back-to-back incidents to terrorism, but Danon said he would ask him what he has to say about the past 11 months, when "thousands of rockets flew from Hezbollah to our communities and our cities."
But when Israel targets terrorists, "and we have the sophistication to target the terrorists and minimize civilian casualties, all of a sudden all those self-righteous leaders come to blame us. That's hypocrisy," he said.
Iranian leaders are expected to speak at the U.N. gathering this week, but Danon said they won't touch on the atrocities committed by Hamas.
"I would expect them to condemn the atrocities of Hamas and to call for the release of the hostages," he said. "It's basic if the U.N. was established 80 years ago to avoid what we have seen on Oct. 7."
The ambassador acknowledged that worldwide, it's "not a great time for diplomacy."
"We see what is happening in Ukraine in other parts of the world and still they focus on the victims and not on the bad guys," Danon said.
Also Tuesday, he said he was shocked to see pro-Palestinian protests in the streets of New York City.
"People are carrying the Hamas flags," Danon said. "Hamas is a terrorist organization, and once you see those people in the streets, I'm worried about it."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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