Shalev aims to expand UN portfolio

Israel's first female ambassador to the United Nations wants to take on "wide range of issues."

By ALLISON HOFFMAN, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK
Shalev ban ki-moon 248 88 (photo credit: Allan Tannenbaum [file])
Shalev ban ki-moon 248 88
(photo credit: Allan Tannenbaum [file])
Internationally renowned law professor Gabriela Shalev, widely seen as a political outsider, formally assumed her role as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on Monday. Now officially an insider, Shalev, the first woman to hold the job, will immediately face the task of promoting Israeli interests at the UN General Assembly, which opens later this month. She said in a statement that her two top priorities are the Iranian nuclear program and the disarmament of Hizbullah under the terms of Security Council Resolution 1701. Yet, in a protocol meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Shalev added that she hoped to expand her portfolio beyond those immediate concerns. "While our priority remains the security of Israel and addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I intend to engage Israel on a wide range of other issues such as scientific and technological initiatives, and children and women's rights," she said. The 67-year-old met with President Shimon Peres before her departure from Israel last month to discuss a range of issues, including tactics for containing any threat from Iran. Shalev has been widely acclaimed as a cool head despite her lack of previous foreign-affairs experience. She served as rector of Ono Academic College prior to her appointment, and previously was a professor of contract law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has also served as a board member of Israeli corporations including Teva Pharmaceuticals, Delek and Bank Hapoalim. She replaces Dan Gillerman, who held the post for five years.