How reassuring it is that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations spends a lot of her time defending Israel.

The JTA reports:

Susan Rice said a major part of her work as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is defending Israel’s legitimacy.

“It’s a huge part of my work to the United Nations,” Rice said Sunday evening, launching this year’s Consultation on Conscience, an event in Washington for Reform movement social activists organized by the Religious Action Center.

She likened the volume of work to her efforts to coordinate Syria’s isolation and contain violence and abuses in Sudan.

Rice said she often works in “lockstep” with the Israeli delegation.

“We will not rest in the crucial work of defending Israel’s security and legitimacy every day at the United Nations,” she said.

Rice said Israel’s success at the United Nations often is not reported — for instance in joining the boards of the U.N. Development Program and UNICEF, and in advancing development initiatives.