Glass Barbed Wire at the UN?
The 105 Israelis who applied for employment at the United Nations through its Young Professionals Program failed the entrance exams last year.
Sources familiar with the testing procedure said that December’s exams, which covered statistics, administration, humanitarian aid and communications, were particularly difficult.
The Young Professionals Program is geared towards candidates under the age of 32 who are interested in junior positions at the UN. Only a handful of Israelis have succeeded in passing its entrances tests over the past few years.
Most staff members join the UN by responding to wanted ads that are published on a daily basis. And yet, only 60-80 of the UN’s 70,000 employees are Israeli.
Dr. Inon Schenker, a global health adviser, postulates that many talented candidates are influenced by the longstanding disdain cultivated within Israel towards the UN, based on the belief that the global body is biased against the Jewish state.