Danny Danon

His father was born in Egypt, and moved to Israel in 1950.

He was severely wounded in the Jordan Valley during the War of Attrition, and died when Danny was 13.

Danon attended Blich High School and was a member of the Betar youth movement.

Danny Danon (Hebrew: דני דנון, born 8 May 1971) is an Israeli politician and former diplomat.

In 1989, he was drafted into the army and completed his officer's course with distinction.

He served as an officer in the Education Corps and was released with the rank of captain.

In his final military posting, he served as an officer in the Marava unit, a military program for Jews from around the world to strengthen ties to Israel.

He earned a bachelor's degree in international affairs from the Florida International University, and a master's degree in public policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

After his national service in the IDF between 1989 and 1993, Danon was sent to Miami by the Jewish Agency.

Danon's time as an emissary for the Jewish Agency had a big impact on his life; it was the first stepping stone in his choice to enter public service.

Upon his return to Israel, Danon served as an adviser to the Chair of the Knesset Foreign affairs and Defense Committee, MK Uzi Landau.

When he was 28 years old, Danon was elected Chair of the World Betar Movement.

His responsibilities included managing the administrative, financial, and educational aspects of the organization in Israel and abroad, and encouraging aliyah.

From 2004 to 2009, Danon served as the chairman of the Likud faction in the World Zionist Organization.

His responsibilities included encouraging aliyah to Israel and combating antisemitism.

Danon also served on the board of directors of the Jewish Agency, establishing policy, goals and monitoring the work of the Agency.

In the run-up to the 2006 legislative election, Danon was the 23rd spot on Likud's list in the party primaries.

However, the party won only 12 seats in the general election, and Danon did not enter the Knesset.

In June 2006, Danon was elected chairman of the World Likud organization, defeating Yuval Steinitz MK for the position.

During this period, Danon was active against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan during the referendum conducted by the latter in the Likud party's central committee.

Considered a 'right-wing thorn in Netanyahu's side," Danon challenged Benjamin Netanyahu for the party's leadership in 2007 and 2014.

In July 2007, Danon, described as one of Benjamin Netanyahu's biggest critics from within the Likud, declared his candidacy for the party's leadership.

He eventually finished third in a primary election held that August.

In 2008, Danon filed a petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice to rescind the citizenship of former MK Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel after he was suspected of aiding Hezbollah, an enemy organization of Israel, during the 2006 Lebanon War.

The petition was rejected.

On December 8, 2008, Danon was elected to the twenty-fourth place on the Likud slate for the upcoming election.

A member of the Likud party, Danon served in the Knesset from 2009 to 2015, and re-entered the Knesset in 2022.

First elected to the Knesset in the 2009 election, Danon served as Deputy Minister of Defense, which coincided with the outbreak of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict.

He was ultimately fired by Netanyahu for criticizing the Prime Minister's willingness to accept a proposed ceasefire.

In the 2009 election election, the Likud party won twenty-seven seats, and Danon was sworn in as a Member of the Knesset.

During this term, MK Danon served as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and Chair of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs.

From 2015 to 2020, Danon served as Israel's 17th Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

The former leader of the world Betar organization, Danon was elected Chairman of the World Likud.

In 2015, Danon was appointed to serve as Minister of Science, Technology and Space.

Danon became Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2015, and made history in 2016 by being the first Israeli elected chair of the UN's Legal Committee.

In his capacity, Danon supported the United States' recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel in 2017, and criticized supporters of UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/19 as "puppets pulled by the strings of the Palestinian puppet masters."

Danon left the position in 2020, and was replaced by Gilad Erdan.

Following his tenure at the UN, Danon re-entered Israeli politics, and was elected to the Knesset in the 2022 election.

In a 2021 interview, Danon indicated that he would be interested in pursuing leadership of the Likud party in the future.

Danon was born in Ramat Gan to Yosef and Yoheved Danon.