The United Nations has promoted a former Israeli government attorney to be the Security Council’s top counterterrorism lawyer, making him the only Israeli national serving in a senior security position within the U.N. Secretariat, Israeli and U.N. officials said Tuesday.
David Scharia has been appointed legal coordinator for the Counter-Terrorism Committee executive directorate, where he will oversee a team of 12 international legal experts who advise the 15-nation Security Council on its counterterrorism efforts, The Washington Post reported.
Of the more than 44,000 international employees within the United Nations, only 124 are Israeli, according to the U.N.
Not a single Israeli serves in the top ranks of the most sensitive political jobs, which are responsible for maintaining international security, mediating peace deals and coordinating humanitarian assistance.
U.N. officials, however, maintain that while Israel has a relatively small presence, it is not considered “underrepresented” because Israel’s population is relatively small.
Given the UN’s unfavorable and hostile treatment of the Jewish state, however, such figures are not at all surprising.
Scharia previously served as the Israel Attorney General’s lead lawyer for counterterrorism cases before the Israeli Supreme Court. He began working for the United Nations in September 2005 as a legal adviser to the Security Council’s counterterrorism executive directorate.
“I am very proud to welcome a very talented Israeli into the U.N’s senior ranks,” said Ron Prosor, Israel’s U.N. ambassador. “One of my priorities is to bring many more bright minds from the Holy Land into the U.N.’s halls, where Israelis have long been underrepresented.”
The directorate was established in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorism attacks on the United States, with the aim of promoting international cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Scharia also serves as the U.N. liaison with the Global Counter Terrorism Forum, a U.S.-backed anti-terrorism coalition- the same forum that continues to oust the Jewish state from participating, despite Israel's having one of the most extensive counterterrorism records in the world.