NEXT U.N. LEADER EXPECTED TO BE FRIENDLY TOWARD ISRAEL

Envoy welcomes U.N. appointment (JTA)
The next United Nations secretary-general can be expected to be friendly to Israel, Israel’s U.N. envoy said. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon was named this week to succeed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the end of the year. Dan Gillerman, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, welcomed the appointment Tuesday.

“I received a very positive impression of him,” Gillerman said in an interview with Ma’ariv’s Web site NRG. “With respect to Israel, he has a great deal of understanding and sympathy for the Israeli positions. I believe that he will be a very thoughtful, professional man, with a clear vision of the arena. People who are serious are good for us, by definition.”

Gillerman has frequently spoken out against Annan’s stands on Israel, especially during the recent Lebanon war.