Spotlight
U.N. Envoy
Israel selects a political outsider and renowned legal mind.
Dina Kraft
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Gabriela Shalev is Israel's
incoming U.N. ambassador.
Tel Aviv
A
n exceptional intellect paired
with an unflappable exterior are
traits Gabriela Shalev's high-
powered colleagues and friends say will
serve her well when she leaves for New
York to become Israel's next ambassador
to the United Nations.
Shalev, an internationally renowned law
professor, will be the first woman to serve
in the post. She was appointed to replace
Dan Gillerman.
"She has a strong will and she knows
what she is talking about:' said Meir
Shamgar, a former chief justice of Israel's
Supreme Court.
Shamgar first encountered Shalev when
she was a student in a course he taught
at Hebrew University. A few years later
Shalev joined Shamgar as a colleague on
the university's law faculty, where she
worked until 2002. More recently, the two
served together on a panel outlining ethics
guidelines for Cabinet ministers.
Shalev, 67, is an expert in contract law
and a political outsider not associated
with any party who has been serving as
the rector of Ono Academic College near
Tel Aviv.
The Backdrop
In appointing Shalev, Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni indicated that she was deter-
mined to put a highly qualified woman in
the role.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly
had favored Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli
consul general in New York and a Labor
Party member.
Some Israeli commentators criticized
Livni for picking a political outsider, but
Jerusalem Post columnist Calev Ben-David
said Livni's choice may work well for
the audience that perhaps matters most:
international public opinion.
"Livni was justified in wanting a woman
for the post for reasons beyond gender
advancement: Polls show that given
Israel's militaristic image abroad, women
make the best general impression as our
advocates in the international media;'
Ben-David wrote.
Despite some grumbling from the dip-
lomatic corps that one of their own again
was passed over for the important posi-
tion in New York — Gillerman also had
been a political outsider until his selection
— Shalev's supporters say she is a quick
study who will compensate for any foreign
policy inexperience with her talents as an
orator and a team player.
Shalev declined to be interviewed for
this story. Her office said she will not
be giving interviews until she assumes
her post in New York ahead of the U.N.
General Assembly, which begins in
September.
The daughter of German Jewish refu-
gees in what was then British Mandate
Palestine, Shalev grew up with a strong
work ethic. She helped support her family
while a student at Hebrew University, from
where she earned a bachelor's degree and
a doctorate in law.
She also did post-doctorate work at
Harvard after her husband, an Israeli
army officer, was killed in the 1973 Yom
Kippur War. Shalev raised two young chil-
dren alone.
"The experiences of Israel are part of
her, and she's also paid a price said Orna
Lin, a former student of Shalev's and a
good friend.
Lin described Shalev as a relentless
worker who also knows how to find time
for students and friends, and who can talk
as easily about her passions for opera,
classical music and art as she can about
legal disputes.
has not only been a professor but very
active publicly!'
Lin says Shalev is always calm and in
control. "She can deal with any situation
and never seems to be baffled by anything.
I think her intelligence will help prevent
her from falling into the landmines that
Her Background
await in a place like the U.N."
This was not the first attempt to draw
Her predecessor, Gillerman, was a for-
Shalev into government work. Shalev
mer businessman who upon leaving his
declined several high-profile posts, includ- post this summer was lauded as a sea-
ing judgeships and the office of attorney
soned diplomat with excellent rhetorical
general. Nevertheless, she is no stranger to skills. Observers said Gillerman succeeded
public positions.
in raising Israel's profile at the United
Shalev has been a member of the Jewish Nations and bolstering its image around
Agency board of governors and was
the world.
chairwoman of the Israel Broadcasting .
At a farewell party last month for
Authority. She has spent time in the
Gillerman, U.N. Secretary-General Ban
United States as a visiting professor
Ki-moon offered deep praise for the Israeli
at such schools as Tulane, Temple an d.
envoy's tenure at the world body, noting
Boston College.
the "special challenges" of representing
Alan Hoffman, the director-general Of
Israel.
the Jewish Agency's education depart-
Shalev will have plenty of challenges
ment, called Shalev's selection "an inspired awaiting in New York. Most notably, she
choice'
must navigate the notoriously anti-Israel
"She has all of the tools to•be
able
-
•
• atmosphere at the United Nations and
to interpret Israel to the nations of the
help push for diplomatic support for
world:' Hoffman said. "I think she is
Israel's efforts to halt Iran's suspected pur-
unusual in the academic world in that she suit of nuclear weapons.
❑
alIN
September 4 • 2008
C25