[8] 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.
[citation needed] 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.
His responsibilities included managing the administrative, financial, and educational aspects of the organization in Israel and abroad, and encouraging aliyah.
[17] In June 2006, Danon was elected chairman of the World Likud organization, defeating Yuval Steinitz MK for the position.
[4] 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.
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.
[23] In an August 2011 interview with Teymoor Nabili on Al Jazeera English, Danon said "There is place only for one state on the land of Israel....
"[24] Danon was chosen for the fifth placement on the Likud list for the 2013 Israeli legislative election, which determined the composition of the 19th Knesset.
During his term, Danon focused on increasing enlistment to the IDF from the Christian, and the Ultra-Orthodox and Ethiopian Jewish communities, bettering the service conditions of reservists, establishing criteria for financial benefits for the security forces, and decreasing the number of military drop-outs.
After Likud won the 2015 election, Danon was appointed Minister of Science, Technology and Space in Netanyahu's new government.
In a Security Council meeting on the same issue in April 2015, Danon accused the Palestinian representative for failing to condemn terror.
[37] Ambassador Danon has visited Israel with the Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon,[38] where they visited Israelis wounded in the recent wave of terror attacks, and met with the wife of late Richard Lakin, who was brutally stabbed in a terror attack in the capital's Armon Hanatziv neighborhood.
[39] During Danon's term as Permanent Representative, the Israeli Mission marked several notable achievements including: Recognition of Yom Kippur as an Official UN holiday,[40] Acceptance to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS),[41] ZAKA and Access Israel, both Israeli NGOs, received consultative status at the UN,[42][43] an Israeli UN resolution on Agricultural Technologies for Sustainable Development was adopted by the UN General Assembly,[44] US Secretary of State John Kerry attended an event marking 40 years since Chaim Herzog’s historic UN speech,[45] Israel held the first ever international summit at the UN against BDS,[46] and Ambassador Danon became the first ever Israeli representative to chair a main UN committee.
After 8 months elapsed in which the UN refused to condemn the wave of terror in Israel, including a statement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that it is “Human Nature to react to occupation,[48]” On 9 June, both the Secretary General[49] and the Security Council[50] condemned terror in Israel for the first time following the Attack in the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv.
Days later, the Security Council adopted resolution 2334, which noted that Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including in Jerusalem, are a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace.
Danon likewise delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly in December 2017 in response to criticism of a decision by the US to move its embassy to Jerusalem.
[55] Danon slammed supporters of General Assembly Resolution ES-10/19, which declared the status of Jerusalem as Israel's capital "null and void."
"[67] Danon has advocated for punitive attacks against Palestinian civilians and infrastructure, including a suggestion that Israel "delete" one neighborhood in Gaza in response for every rocket launched by Hamas.
[68] In July 2014, Danon advocated cutting off all electricity and fuel supplies to Gaza to induce Hamas to request a cease-fire.
Israel's far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich praised his proposal, writing: "I welcome the initiative of members of Knesset Ram Ben-Barak and Danny Danon on the voluntary immigration of Gaza Arabs to the countries of the world.
"[72] Danon is an opponent of immigration from Africa, and in 2011 said that the "arrival of thousands of Muslim infiltrators to Israeli territory is a clear threat to the state's Jewish identity."
The book analyzes the Israel–US relationship and presents alternative approaches to the conventional wisdom on negotiating peace between Israelis and Palestinians.