Watch: Israeli ambassador tells Maltese top UN official to 'be quiet'

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations told Maltese UN official Vanessa Frazier to “be quiet” in an angry confrontation on Friday.

Israeli ambassador Danny Danon repeatedly told Frazier to be quiet and “get out” of the UN meeting after Frazier told him to make his points without resorting to personal attacks.

The meeting marked the 12th commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict and was not focused specifically on Israel and Palestine.

But the tone at the event became markedly less civil when Israel’s ambassador took the floor.

Ambassador Denon denounced a 2026 report into conflict-related sexual violence which he said had added Israel to a UN “blacklist” for conflict-related sexual violence. That, he said, was a politically motivated determination and a “moral disgrace”.

The report in question reported various incidents of sexual violence by Israeli troops which it said were verified by the UN.

“Violations consisted of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape,” the report noted.

“Rape and gang rape, in some cases repeated, were perpetrated against nine victims, the majority from Gaza.”

It said six Israeli hostages who had been held by Hamas had also reported sexual violence while being held in captivity, but the UN was unable to verify those reports because Israel had denied UN bodies access to carry out investigations.

Ambassador Denon said the UN had not verified the evidence and that UN special representative Pramila Patten, who authored the report, had ignored invitations to visit Israel and independently verify claims.

He accused Patten and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres of having an “obsession with targeting Israel”, saying the UN had first accused Israel of starvation, then genocide, and now rape.

Denon’s singling out of Patten and the secretary general prompted Frazier to intervene with a point of order, to tell the Israeli ambassador “this should not be personal.”

Denon instead added Frazier – a UN special representative who previously served as Malta’s ambassador to the UN – to his list of targets.

“You will be quiet because I am speaking now,” he said. “Shame on you, you are part of the bullying of Israel. You can walk out,” Denon said. “You are part of this obsession.”

Frazier insisted that there should be “no personal attacks.”

“I will speak and you will be quiet… we will not allow you to bully us. You work for the UN and you will be quiet now. Be quiet! You and your shameful report! If you don’t want to listen, go out,” the Israeli ambassador told Frazier.

Contacted by Times of Malta, Frazier said this was meant to be a commemorative event, but the Israeli envoy went with a pre-prepared statement specifically to attack a colleague.

"My colleague, who was not even in the room, had drawn up a report about conflict-related sexual violence, and Israel was included in that report. When I realised that his intervention wasn’t stopped by the Argentinian chair, I had to step in and raise a point of order. I had a duty to intervene, and all of those in the room expressed solidarity later. The UN was a part-sponsor of this event," she said.

Frazier, who has served in New York for several years, said Denon's statement once again showed yet another Israeli attack against the UN.

"It’s a trend we’ve been seeing since Malta served on the UN Security Council. Ultimately, we are talking about irrefutable evidence about Israel’s crimes against children. Suffice it to say, there is evidence of sexual crimes against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Nine Palestinian boys were shot in the genitals. These are the kinds of horrific crimes we’re talking about."

Denon and Frazier have clashed in the past, too: last March, Danon singled Frazier out for criticism after she expressed concern about the bombing of a school in Iran that killed over 150 people, including children.