For the first time ever, Israel has been elected to head a permanent committee at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in the autumn.

In a secret ballot on Monday in New York, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon was elected chairman of the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee.

The Sixth Committee is the primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly.

“This is a historic achievement for the State of Israel. We broke the glass ceiling: Despite the opposition of many countries, including Iran and others that tried to prevent the vote, we managed to be elected for the first time to head a committee at the UN,” Danon said, referring to the intense efforts by Arab and Muslim states to stop the nomination.

In the past, Israeli diplomats have presided over other, less prestigious committees at the United Nations, and also co-chaired the General Assembly, but no Israeli diplomat has headed one of the six main committees until now.

Some of the issues it is expected to deal with at this autumn’s General Assembly include “measures to eliminate international terrorism,” and “the rule of law at the national and international levels.”

The Israeli delegation to the UN said that one of the first tasks Ambassador Danon will deal with is to further the ‘Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism’.

“Israel is a world leader in international law and in fighting terrorism. We are pleased to have the opportunity to share our knowledge with the countries of the world,” Danon said.

He was nominated for the job by the Western European and Others Group in the UN, of which Israel isa part of, whose turn it was to pick a chairman for the committee. Danon received the needed votes to secure his place.

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