New York City, November 18, 2005

It was brought to my attention that in the “Manhattan Jewish Sentinel”
- a
community weekly magazine - the November 18 - 24 issue - the article
“U.N.
Turnaround, a first: General Assembly adopts resolution proposed by
Israel”
was written by Mr. Ron Prosor, Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

Two of the six columns of above article deal with the following:
Encouraged
by a shift to more fairness regarding Israel at the General Assembly
and at
the U.N. in general, “and by the push for U.N. reform, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs is seeking to broaden its agenda at the U.N. by working
together with the U.N. on global issues such as ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION,
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT and DISEASE PREVENTION. It is even at the
preliminary stages of exploring the possibility of contributing
manpower,
equipment and know-how to U.N. peacekeeping forces.”

The Director General continues: “Israel with its unique experience and
expertise, has much to offer in support of these efforts. It is wrong -
for
Israel and for the U.N. - to be deprived of that ability to
contribute.”

Indeed, the U.N. still suffers from a severe credibility deficit among
the
Israeli people, more then anywhere else, and this is understandable.
The
institutionalized discrimination against Israel at the U.N. is far from
over, and reform is not yet in sight, but the days of resolutions such
as
“Zionism is Racism” are over. So too, I hope, are the days when Israel
will
let its frustration with the U.N. prevent it from engaging
constructively
with its various agencies and institutions.

Back in 1981, at the UN Conference on “New and Renewable Sources of
Energy”,
Israel could not or did not make a serious effort, to present its
expertise in solar energy and energy saving agriculture - areas it was
clearly the front-runner at that time. While having bilateral
arrangements
with a number of countries, through foreign aid programs or via
corporate
interests, it did make inroads but it simply had no input at the U.N. I
hope
that now, in this newly improved atmosphere, Israel’s presence will be
felt
at this month’s Climate Change COP11 in Montreal (November 28 -
December
2005). I will be there to ask them if they are ready to put into action
the
statements from the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.

Further, as noted earlier on www.SustainabiliTank.info (see the search
button of this website), the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) has a
“Commission for Future Generations” - a function, that in our opinion
should
exist in each individual country, and also at a higher level at the
U.N.
itself. Perhaps propagating this idea, besides technological issues,
could
become a further main topic of the new Israeli participation within the
U.N.