Does the appointment of Ban Ki-moon as UN Secretary General bode well for UN-US relations? What challenges does Ki-moon face? A quick sketch of the pre-eminent diplomat On September 13 2006, the UN Security Council approved the appointment of Ban Ki-moon as the next UN Secretary General. Ki-moon is presently South Korea’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister. The position of UN Secretary General, which he will enter in early 2007 will apparently be the climax of a glorious diplomatic career in the service of South Korea. This career has brought him numerous prizes both from his country and from the countries where he served as representative.The first question we need to ask following the change of personnel at the UN is how it will affect Israel. Will Ki-moon’s appointment banish the black cloud that has darkened Israeli relations with the UN? Under Kofi Anan, the UN outdid itself in treating Israel unfairly. This was evident in the Secretary General’s naturally anti-Israel stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the statements by the organization’s institutions condemning the “massacre in Jenin” (Defensive Shield), “the massacre at Kafar Kana” the “apartheid wall”. And the presence of deplorable bodies such as UNWRA – a UN commissionership…