"Carmel Shama-Hacohen, Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural agency, lamented the results of Monday's first round of voting to elect a new leader for the cultural organization.
Former Qatari culture minister Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari received 19 of the 58 votes, with Egyptian diplomat Moushira Khattab coming in third place with 11 votes, behind French former culture minister Audrey Azoulay.
Shama-Hacohen told The Times of Israel the vote was 'bad news for the organization and unfortunately also for Israel.'
However, he also stressed that 'anything can happen' and that the first round doesn't necessarily indicate who will win. He pointed out that current head Irina Bukova only won seven votes in the first round of voting when she was elected.
The results of Monday's vote have no direct impact on the final outcome.
Delegates will continue to vote every day this week until one candidate receives a majority of votes. If, by the fourth round of voting, to be held on Thursday, no candidate has received a majority, only the top two candidates from that round of voting will be put forward for a final vote Friday...
Israel and its staunch ally the United States have condemned UNESCO over what they say is an ingrained anti-Israel bias..."