"A South Korean diplomat was elected on Thursday as the new chairperson of UNESCO's Executive Board, surprisingly beating his Iranian colleague, who had long been favored to get the job.
Although set to quit the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Israel celebrated the vote's outcome, saying an Iranian at the helm of the influential body would have detracted from Jerusalem's ability to influence decisions taken there.
Lee Byong Hyun, South Korea's ambassador to UNESCO, beat Iran's Ahmad Jalali, who until recently was the only candidate in the race, in a secret ballot by 32 to 25, with one abstention.
'The Western efforts, especially by the US and Israel, to create competition for the Iranian and to stop Tehran's control of the Executive Committee took place mainly behind the scenes and today had an impressive success,' said Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen.
'Israel's future at UNESCO is still unclear, but one way or another an Iranian chairman heading the body that discusses and decides on anti-Israel proposals would have led to a radicalization, accompanied by inaccessibility of the American and Israeli to the chair of the executive committee,' he added..."