PARIS — Relations between Israel and UNESCO have long been strained, but UNESCO’s 202nd executive board meeting provided a rare moment of satisfaction for Israeli diplomacy. On Oct. 8, just hours before the dayslong voting process for the agency’s next director-general kicked off, the decision was made to delay voting on two resolutions related to Israel and Jerusalem.

Similar resolutions generated harsh Israeli reactions last year, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to limit cooperation and financing for joint projects. Likewise, when UNESCO adopted a resolution on Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs in July, Netanyahu called it "delusional."

European diplomats insist that delaying the votes on the two sensitive resolutions reflects a change within UNESCO. The delay was approved unanimously. Sources at the agency estimated that the United States had managed to broker a joint Israeli-Palestinian agreement to postpone, thus avoiding a diplomatic commotion ahead of the nomination process for UNESCO’s new director-general.

Israel’s interest in postponing the votes was obvious. The Palestinians, for their part, understood that in the long run they could gain from the delay. Their No. 1 interest at that point was seeing one of the four Arab candidates land the position of UNESCO chief. Everything else could wait.