Professor Gabriela Shalev was confirmed Sunday by the Cabinet as Israel's new Ambassador to the United Nations. Shalev, who will step into the seat being vacated by outgoing Ambassador Dan Gillerman, was selected for the post in a joint decision by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
In well-choreographed statements, Olmert praised the outgoing Gillerman, while Livni explained the importance of bringing in a woman this time around.
"It was important to me to appoint a woman to represent Israel in such an important place," said Livni. "In addition, her extraordinary talents will enable her to deal with the challenges facing Israel.
"Professor Shalev is internationally respected; she has fulfilled many public positions in Israel, and the appointment committee determined that her impressive reputation and background, as well as her personality, make her a fitting candidate for the position of ambassador to the UN. I am confident of her ability to represent Israel faithfully, and I wish her success."
Shalev, currently the Rector of the Kiryat Ono Academic College outside Tel Aviv, is considered an authority on contract law. She will be the first Israeli woman to become Ambassador to the UN.
Professor Shalev has served as the Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she had been a law professor since 1986 and where she graduated summa cum laude for her Bachelors Degree, her Master's Degree and again for her doctorate. She has also served as a visiting professor at numerous institutions abroad, among them Boston College, Glasgow Law School and Toronto University, and she has won a several prizes and academic awards.
Professor Shalev's appointment must still pass approval by the Knesset before she can take up her post at the United Nations.