The communications showing Lichner leaking confidential information to officials in the Israeli government come from a hacked database of emails from Prosor, Israel’s permanent representative to the UN from 2011 to 2015. The emails were posted online by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a whistleblower and file-sharing website, after being obtained by Handala, a hacking group believed to be tied to Iranian intelligence.

Prosor is currently Israel’s ambassador to Germany, while Lichner has served since January 2025 as director of the Washington, D.C., office of UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency. Prior to joining the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Lichner worked at Israel’s mission to the UN from 2011 to early 2014.

The emails showing leaks of classified UN information and other communications with Israeli officials came from a period when Lichner served at the UNFPA and does not indicate whether or not it has continued in his role at UNICEF. Lichner previously served as Prosor’s political advisor at Israel’s embassy in London and later as a senior advisor at Israel’s UN mission.

The emails suggest that Prosor personally promoted Lichner’s UNFPA candidacy, drawing on the assistance of then U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power to privately lobby for his appointment and later providing a glowing reference letter to the agency.

That placement appeared to pay dividends as Lichner continually fed inside information from the UN to Prosor and other Israeli diplomats, including unissued draft documents authored by then–Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, private accounts of meetings by UN officials, and internal reports marked as confidential. Lichner also provided insight and guidance on internal UN processes and deliberations related to Israel, including informing them of scrutiny of its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.