This Friday, the United Nations Security Council is set to take an important step in choosing a replacement for António Guterres, whose second and final term as secretary-general expires at the end of the year, when it takes a second, informal and non-binding straw poll about who will lead the global organization.
Guterres’s final term “has devastated trust in the United Nations,” Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in New York, told JNS. “Many countries no longer view the organization as a meaningful or influential institution in international politics.”
The second straw poll will come after economist Rebeca Grynspan, who is Jewish and the daughter of Holocaust refugees, won the first poll on July 20.
She is a former vice president of Costa Rica, a longtime U.N. executive and current secretary-general of the U.N. Trade and Development agency.
Israel has not publicly backed a candidate.
The next U.N. head “must remember that the United Nations was created to serve all member states equally,” Danon told JNS. “It will be their responsibility to confront the institutional antisemitism that has become embedded within parts of the U.N. system, restore transparency and accountability and return the organization to the principles of professionalism and impartiality on which it was built.”
The straw polls, held confidentially, are intended to narrow the field while indicating who could garner the support of the council’s five permanent members—the United States, China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom—while avoiding a veto.
Ballots indicate whether a council member “encourages,” “discourages” or expresses “no opinion” about each candidate.
While “encourage” votes are obviously sought after, the “discourage” votes can be more telling, because they indicate a candidate’s inability to gain consensus and increased odds of a veto of their candidacy.
In Friday’s vote, the permanent members of the council will use ballots that are a different color from the 10 elected members, who don’t have vetoes. That means it will be clear which “discourage” votes carry veto power.
Grynspan, 70, could benefit from increased talk at the global body of the need for its first woman as secretary-general in its history. There is also an informal cycle based on geography used to select a secretary-general, and this year favors Latin America and the Caribbean.
That cycle is non-binding, but three female candidates from that region, including Grynspan, enjoyed positive returns last month.
Grynspan drew 10 “encourage” votes in the first straw poll and just one “discourage” vote—the fewest for all candidates.
During a U.N. hearing for candidates a few months ago, Grynspan, whose parents fled Poland during the Holocaust, opened her remarks by describing herself as a “product of peace.”
Her parents immigrated in the aftermath of World War II, she said.
Grynspan has decried Holocaust denial, has family connections to Israel and studied economics and sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. But she has spoken little about her Jewish identity.
She is largely considered to be moderate toward Israel, even as she harshly criticized the Jewish state in the early stages of the Israel-Hamas war.
She is running in part on a platform of restoring trust in global multilateralism, using the top U.N. position for conflict mediation, implementing deep reforms that go beyond declarations and future planning through new technologies.
Other contenders emerge from first poll
Rafael Grossi, 65, of Argentina, who has served as director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency since December 2019, is another candidate.
He has been outspoken on the Iranian nuclear issue and the nuclear implications of the Ukraine-Russia war and has called for pragmatic U.N. leadership, grounded in action and open dialogue, along with a sustained effort to implement proposed reforms.
He drew seven “encourage” votes in the first straw poll, but two council members voted “discourage.”
Israeli leaders have criticized Grossi for not being harsh enough on Iran, and the Islamic Republic has accused him of coordinating with Israeli intelligence.
Michelle Bachelet, 74, of Chile, who created a blacklist of companies doing business in Israel-controlled territory in her role at the United Nations, received six “encourage” and five “discourage” votes, likely thwarting her candidacy.
Bachelet twice served as president of Chile and was the U.N. high commissioner for human rights from 2018 to 2022.
Two other women, besides Grynspan, emerged from the first straw poll with high hopes.
Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, 52, of Guyana, was her country’s first female foreign affairs minister and served on the U.N. Security Council. She also previously chaired the G77 coalition of developing countries.
She got nine “encourage” and two “discourage” votes last month and has the backing of the coalition of Caribbean nations. She picked up 49% of the support in a Bloomberg live audience poll following a televised town hall with candidates days before the first straw poll.
Rodrigues-Birkett said that she is pushing for the next U.N. leader to be active and hands-on in geopolitics and will prioritize gender equality, equal opportunities for minorities and climate change.
María Fernanda Espinosa, 61, of Ecuador, is a former U.N. General Assembly president and served as minister of foreign affairs and minister of defense for her country. She is executive director of GWL Voices, which is dedicated to promoting women’s leadership in the United Nations.
She received five “encourage” and two “discourage” votes last month. Eight members said “no opinion.”
Espinosa said she aims to streamline overall U.N. functioning and operations and eliminate waste, without shutting down agencies or causing mass disruption.
She is running on a platform of focusing the global body on climate change and gender equality and integrating the United Nations into the global arena.
Two other candidates, both African men, received high numbers of “discourage” votes last month. Further straw polls are expected, and the field is not yet closed.
Among the names being discussed are FIFA president Gianni Infantino, former UNESCO head Audrey Azoulay, who is Jewish, and Virginia Gamba, who is Guterres’s special representative for children and armed conflict.
Gamba has drawn Israeli ire for including the Jewish state on the so-called “list of shame” of parties that commit grave violations against children. Gamba has not yet found a country to nominate her, despite an active campaign.
Israel has criticized Guterres extensively for his stewardship, including the politicization of U.N. institutions, inability to resolve key international conflicts, lack of transparency in decision-making processes and the UNRWA crisis, during which staff members were found to have participated in terrorist operations.
