UNITED NATIONS – Israel intends to break its silence on the controversy surrounding calls for Kofi Annan’s resignation, diplomatic sources tell The New York Sun.

After practically every U.N. member state lined up to officially back the embattled secretary-general, and after the Bush administration added its own voice of support, Israel remained conspicuous in its silence, but it is about to be broken. Israel’s foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, intended to call Mr. Annan as early as today from Jerusalem, a source familiar with Israeli diplomacy said, asking not to be named.

The phone call was meant to thank Mr. Annan for his support of a January 24 event at the General Assembly to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps, the source said. But he added that Mr. Shalom will also convey Israel’s support for Mr. Annan’s continued tenure at the U.N.

The American ambassador to the U.N., John Danforth, has asked the Assembly to convene next month’s special session three days before a similar commemorative event takes place in Auschwitz, which was liberated on January 27, 1948.

Some Arab diplomats, led by Syria, opposed the event, although Algerian Ambassador Abdallah Baali told the Sun yesterday that his country supports it. The objections nevertheless raised the ire of such American legislators as Tom Lantos, a Democrat of California.

Mr. Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor in Congress and a personal friend of Mr. Annan, visited the U.N. earlier this week, saying the Arab resistance “reflects hysterical and mindless venom, which is difficult to justify in the international arena.” Mr. Annan wrote a cover letter to all member states meant to endorse the event.

Mr. Annan was in Washington yesterday, where he met Secretary of State Powell and his presumed replacement, Condoleezza Rice. On the eve of his visit, apparently as part of a charm offensive toward Washington, Mr. Annan announced that U.N. electoral officials in Iraq would be deployed beyond Baghdad, in Irbil and Basra.

This has been long demanded by the Iraqi U.N. ambassador, Samir Sumaidaie, who said that he would also like to see many more U.N. election observers in Iraq. “We would like to have as many as possible,” he told the Sun, “but dozens would be a nice start.”

There are reportedly only 19 U.N. election experts in Iraq currently and no more than 25 are expected, according to Mr. Annan’s spokesmen. Iraq and America, however, would like to see more. “We encourage them to continue to expand their presence in Iraq,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday.

After his meeting with Mr. Powell, Mr. Annan said, “It’s not a question of numbers. It’s a question of what you need to get the job done. And are we doing the job? Yes, we are doing the job.”

The Washington visit was meant to shore up the administration’s support for Mr. Annan’s continuing term in office. “We want to support the United Nations, support the secretary-general in his work,” Mr. Powell said. “And as we noted earlier, we have confidence in the secretary-general.”

Mr. Annan, however, was not invited to meet President Bush. “I don’t feel snubbed,” he said, adding that he is in regular phone contact with the president. “I don’t feel that if I come to Washington and we don’t get the chance to meet I should feel offended.”

Mr. Annan repeated his vow to fully cooperate with the U.N.-sanctioned investigation into the oil-for-food scandal headed by Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, saying he has told all at the U.N. to cooperate or face dismissal. He sidestepped the issue of cooperation with congressional and criminal investigations. Mr. Powell put the Capitol Hill investigations on a par with Mr. Volcker’s investigation.