OCCUPATION NOW, OCCUPATION TOMORROW, OCCUPATION FOREVER!:

In an interview with The Times of Israel in June 2013, Danny Danon, serving at the time as deputy minister of defense, asserted that his Likud party and the governing coalition of the day were staunchly opposed to a two-state solution. Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's professions of support in principle for a two-state deal, the government, said Danon, would block the creation of a Palestinian state if such a proposal ever came to a vote.

His comments caused an uproar. Taking the highly unusual step of contacting The Times of Israel during Shabbat, sources in the Prime Minister's Office insisted that Danon's remarks did "not represent the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government of Israel." Quite the contrary. The sources went on to say that the prime minister "is interested in a resumption of negotiations without preconditions," and that his positions regarding support for a two-state solution remained in force.

On Friday, Netanyahu announced the appointment of Danon as Israel's next ambassador to the United Nations -- the representative of Israel, that is, who is charged with arguing Israel's case at the UN Security Council.

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