Ynetnews has a fascinating interview with everybody’s favorite outgoing ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman.
There are many interesting anecdotes, including his friendship with Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram, and encounters with the Syrian and Iranian ambassadors. But my favorite is his recollection of an interview on CNN during the Second Lebanon War.
“I was sitting in front of a CNN reporter who accused us of killing hundreds of Lebanese, including dozens of children, while we only lost 54 soldiers. I told her, ‘You really make me feel ashamed and apologize to you for not being able to provide you with more dramatic numbers.’ It was live, and she was pretty shocked.
This story epitomizes Dan Gillerman’s approach in my eyes. He was always able to articulate things in such a way, as to show the absurdity of the numerous condemnations of Israel. All the time while being entertaining.
As the Ynet reporter writes:
His addresses at the Security Council during the Second Lebanon War were among the best the organization has seen in recent years, and there are those who even noted that he caused the institution to awake from its boredom.
Former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton wrote in his book “Surrender is not an Option” that the Tanzanian envoy had whispered to him during one of the discussions that he couldn’t understand why the Arabs kept on asking for urgent meetings against Israel – and giving the stage to Gillerman.
Read the whole thing.
