Diplomatic niceties broke down at the United Nations on Friday when Israel's ambassador and the US secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict became embroiled in a furious shouting match at a public hearing.
At a meeting in New York to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Israeli envoy, Danny Danon, demanded the resignation of Pramila Patten, who produced a report that blacklisted Israel for such alleged abuses for the first time, accusing her of bias.
"You caved to the secretary-general's obsession with targeting Israel," Danon said, referring to US chief Antonio Guterres.
Another US official, Vanessa Frazier, Guterres' representative for children and armed conflict and compiler of a separate report that also blacklists Israel, interjected by shouting a point of order. She demanded that Danon refrain from "personal attacks" and added that she had "verified evidence."
Danon said Frazier should be quiet.
"We are a member state, and you work for the US, and you will be quiet now. You will be quiet ... you and your shameful report," he said.
UN demonstrates 'new low' in reports condemning Israel, Danon says
Frazier, Malta's former US ambassador, issued her report this week on behalf of Guterres, warning that Israeli settler groups could be added to a global blacklist for violations against children as the US chief voiced alarm at what he called a "staggering" rise in violations against Palestinians.
Israel itself already features in that report's so-called list of shame annexes for alleged violations.
When Patten's report was issued last month, Danon called it "a new low," and Israel's foreign ministry vowed to sever all ties with Guterres, who leaves office after 10 years at the year-end.
Both reports also blacklist Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which was responsible for the October 7 massacre against Israel.