Israel PNG'd Antonio Guterres(!)

A crude and churlish move

First, I was tickled last week when Politico called me the “uncrowned king of UN nerdom.” It’s a moniker I’d gladly take!

I was genuine when I said that Mia Mottley’s speech at the (delightfully wonkish) Global Citizen Now conference was the best leader’s speech I heard all week. But at this point, UNGA seems like a million years ago!

S-G PNG’d

In the 79 years of the United Nations, no country has ever declared a UN Secretary-General persona non grata—until now. On Wednesday, Israel made history when it “PNG’d” António Guterres, stating that he was no longer welcome to set foot on Israeli soil. The reason? In a statement condemning Iran's attack on Israel, he apparently didn’t condemn it strongly enough.

From time to time, countries do declare UN officials persona non grata—typically authoritarian regimes (think Ethiopia or Eritrea). The officials they target are usually those working on human rights issues or doing work the government finds displeasing. So, while it does happen, it is rare for a country that professes to be a liberal democracy, and it has never involved the very top UN official.

Meanwhile this is all happening in the context of an escalating crisis in the middle east—one that demands the kind of good offices that the UN can provide in these volatile situations.

On To Save Us From Hell today, Anjali Dayal and I discuss the oddity of Israel PNGing the Secretary General. We then discuss what role, if any, the UN and its 10,0000 strong peacekeeping force in Lebanon can play in managing this conflict. Finally we discuss the race to replace Martin Griffiths as Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs. According to Devex’s Column Lynch it’s come down to two candidates!

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