At the start of the government meeting on Feb. 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sounded like someone who supports the possibility that Tzipi Livni, the former foreign minister and current co-chair of the Zionist Camp, would be appointed to the prestigious position of undersecretary-general at the United Nations even though she harshly attacks Netanyahu’s policies on a daily basis.
That morning, Israeli news outlets had reported that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had offered Livni the position about two weeks ago at a meeting in New York. According to reports, her possible appointment is part of a deal to enable the appointment of former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to head the United Nations' political mission to Libya, an appointment to which the United States objected Feb. 11.
On the front line of the opposition is Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations. Through her, the Donald Trump administration expressed its disappointment at the secretary-general’s intention to appoint Fayyad to the senior post as a representative of Palestine, arguing that it reflects unfair preference for the Palestinians over Israel in the United Nations “to the detriment of our allies in Israel."
The fight over the appointment of the former Palestinian prime minister is playing out in the background of the offer to Livni. If the deal comes through, it would be the first time in the history of the organization that an Israeli representative and a Palestinian representative have served in such senior positions.
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