 During July 2011, Westerwelle was the President of the United Nations Security Council as he headed the German delegation to the United Nations.In an attempt to continue to play an important role within the United Nations, he led the German government's successful campaign for a three-year seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council in late 2012.In October 2013, Israeli daily "Haaretz" published the text of a letter sent by Westerwelle to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that failure to appear at a periodical hearing regarding human rights at the United Nations Human Rights Council would cause severe diplomatic damage to Israel, and that its allies around the world would be hard-pressed to help it.