The current attitude of Israel's government to the United Nations can best be summed up by the identity of Israel's most recent ambassador to the UN headquarters in New York. Danny Danon is one of the most right-wing politicians in the Likud Party, a man so outspoken that, two years ago, he was fired from his position of deputy defence minister after speaking out against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy during the last Gaza war, which was too moderate for him.
Mr Netanyahu, who made his name as a swashbuckling young ambassador to the UN three decades ago, does not believe that there is much point in trying to appease the global organisation, which many see as being incorrigibly anti-Israel. Is that about to change with the expected appointment of former Portuguese prime minister António Guterres as the new UN Secretary-General? Israeli officials are sceptical.
Mr Guterres is remembered by Israeli politicians who were in contact with him in the past, including former Prime Minister Ehud Barak who regards him as a personal friend, as always positive towards Israel. It is, however, hard to find any controversial public statements of his in the past on the Israel-Palestine conflict, even from his own visits to the country. Most diplomats are expecting him to take a similar tone to that of outgoing Secretary-General, Ban ki-Moon, who, while always maintaining a friendly attitude to Israel, during his 10 years at the helm of the organisation, was also at times fiercely critical of the settlement policy. And he did little, if anything, to temper the hostility towards Israel in various agencies and commissions, particularly the Human Rights Commission, based in Geneva, which has dealt with Israel more harshly than it has with any other country.
"It is important to remember that while the secretary-general is an influential position, the United Nations is made up tens of thousands of employees who have been working there for decades and their attitude is not about to change", says one Israeli diplomat. "Here and there you can see a shift, but it's usually minor.
"Guterres is a positive appointment as far as we're concerned but he won't make major changes".
Last week, Ambassador Danon, as the first diplomat to chair a UN committee tweeted a carefully edited clip showing all the delegates congratulating him - with one exception: the Palestinian one.
