Anti-Israel, former president of Chile nominated to be next UN secretary-general

Backed by Mexico and Brazil, Gabriel Boric, Chile’s outgoing president, nominated former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, a harsh critic of the Jewish state, to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations.

Boric, who is also anti-Israel, made the announcement on Monday. José Antonio Kast, a right-wing politician who is set to assume the Chilean presidency next month, would be unlikely to nominate Bachelet, 74, for the role.

Bachelet, who was Brazil’s president twice—from 2006-10 and 2014-18—was the first head of U.N. Women and served as U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

She was a frequent critic of the Jewish state, which broke ties with her office in 2020 over her decision to implement a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution mandating the publication of a blacklist of companies engaged in business in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.

According to U.N. Watch, Bachelet issued 14 comments about Israel, more than any democratic country. She made the same number of statements about Syria and fewer about Iran, according to the watchdog.

Bachelet used her final hours in office to decry Israel over its denial of visas to her staff. She ignored antisemitic comments made by a member of the Human Rights Council’s commission of inquiry on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for which the commissioner later apologized.

The United Nations has never had a female secretary-general. The other nominees are Rebeca Grynspan, of Costa Rica, secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development; Mexican environment and natural resources secretary Alicia Bárcena; and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

Rafael Grossi, the Argentinian head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has also been nominated.

Latin America is up next in the traditional U.N. rotation of world regions. Portugal’s António Guterres is secretary-general until the end of the year.

© JNS