described as denigrating to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Role in the United Nations 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. Shortly after, Israel renewed its cooperation with the Human Rights Council after a year and a half of boycott. Nonproliferation During his time in office, Westerwelle campaigned for the removal of B61 nuclear bombs at US air bases in Europe, arguing that a planned missile shield protecting Europe against ballistic rocket attack also meant that the tactical nuclear bombs are not needed. Against resistance from France, Westerwelle and German defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg demanded greater NATO commitment to nuclear disarmament at a meeting of the organization's foreign and defense ministers in October 2010. After the U.S. midterm elections in 2010, Westerwelle called on newly empowered Republicans in the U.S. Congress to stand by President Barack Obama’s goals of non- proliferation and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. In coordination with his foundation and The ATOM Project, Westerwelle continued to advocate for the elimination of nuclear weapons testing. Relations with Belarus In the belief that the European Union had to engage Belarus to prevent it from moving closer to Russia, Westerwelle – accompanied by his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski – visited Minsk in November 2010, the first such visit in 15 years. Shortly after, Westerwelle publicly condemned the judgments against President Alexander Lukashenko's main political opponent Andrei Sannikov and other opposition supporters. As a consequence, Poland, France and Germany pressed their EU partners in to impose tougher sanctions against the Belarusian leadership following the crackdown and trials of opposition leaders in the country who held peaceful protests against the fraudulent presidential elections. In March 2012, Lukashenko criticized EU politicians who threatened him with further sanctions over human rights abuses and