U.N. Chief Adopting Harsh Stance on Israel

UNITED NATIONS -- In a March 1998 speech in Jerusalem, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan embarked on a quest to "usher in a new era of relations between Israel and the United Nations" by ending decades of Israeli isolation and by placing the Jewish state on an equal footing with other members.

Through a series of symbolic and substantive gestures, from the defense of Israeli positions in the Security Council to the placement of a 4th-century stone from a Galillean synagogue in a corridor between the Security Council and General Assembly chambers, Annan offered himself as a diplomatic buffer between Israel and its Arab rivals at the United Nations.

The strategy had borne fruit until a resurgence of violence in the Middle East prompted Annan to issue uncharacteristically harsh rebukes against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that diplomats say underscore the fact that Israel is becoming as politically isolated as it has ever been.