The new United Nations Ambassador to the Middle East, who will raise the baton in trying to resolve the Israeli – Palestinian conflict, has become familiar with the issue from being close to the course of his illustrious career.
The UN Security Council last Tuesday approved the appointment of Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland to the post, replacing Nikolay Mladenov, who has held the post over the past six years.
The Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland
The Bulgarian diplomat, who helped negotiate several stops between Israel and Hamas, will officially resign next month, when Wennesland is ready to take over.
Wennesland is an experienced diplomatic representative who was a supporter of Norwegian official Terje Rød-Larsen, one of the architects of the Oslo Accord, and has been involved in the Israeli – Palestinian conflict since 1993.
He later became an adviser to British politician Tony Blair during the time of the former British Prime Minister as the region’s ambassador for the Middle East, which is involved in centralizing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
In the last few years Wennesland has been the correspondent for the Middle East for Norway, which is one of the largest states reporting to the Palestinian Authority. Last year he was scheduled to meet with Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar – although the meeting was postponed.
Wennesland will meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh
While some Israeli diplomats argue that Wennesland’s approach may not be as pro-Israeli as its predecessor, they insist that he is a “moderate” and knowledgeable candidate who is well understood by Israelis. , which may be useful during possible negotiations with Hamas.
During his time as Norwegian ambassador, he was responsible on behalf of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, for promoting civilian projects in both the West Bank and Gaza.
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov
(Photo: AP)
Mladenov will want his part as the UN’s special ambassador to Libya. During his tenure, Mladenov was able to gain great trust among the Israeli leadership as well as Hamas, and in fact has prevented several armed clashes between the two sides because he was seen as a fair mediator .
Despite his neutrality, Mladenov did not criticize Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians and went on to call for the resumption of talks based on the principle of a two-state solution.