VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWL #0379/01 1362327
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 162327Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2789
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 4406
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0264
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0469
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0048
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L WELLINGTON 000379 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR D (FRITZ), EAP/FO, IO/SHA, NEA/IPA, AND EAP/ANP 
NSC FOR VICTOR CHA 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISD LIZ PHU 
PACOM FOR JO1E/J2/J233/J5/SJFHQ 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM NZ
SUBJECT: GNZ REMAINS COOL TO ISRAELI JUSCANZ PARTICIPATION 
 
REF: A. WELLINGTON 234 
 
     ¶B. STATE 36771 
 
Classified By: Charge D'Affaires David R. Burnett, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) As noted Ref A, Ambassador McCormick and his 
Australian and Canadian counterparts met with Minister Peters 
in late May to urge that New Zealand support Israeli 
membership in the Geneva JUSCANZ group.  This followed 
representations by other Embassy officers at lower levels. 
Minister Peters promised GNZ would consider the Ambassador's 
request, but because the Minister was on official travel for 
much of the past two months, it took a while for GNZ to give 
us their formal response. 
 
¶2.  (C) On May 9, Minister Peters sent the Ambassador a 
letter noting that New Zealand would not oppose any consensus 
to admit Israel into the group.  He then adds that as of now, 
New Zealand does not believe that consensus exists. 
 
In other words, GNZ's position has not changed. 
 
¶3.  (C) We understand that our request was reviewed at very 
senior levels, including by  the Prime Minister.  While the 
result is disappointing, the silver lining (if there is one) 
is that Minister Peters also says that he has instructed the 
NZ Permrep in Geneva to handle this issue personally.  That 
might help, as we understand through oblique references from 
our counterparts here (and from Ref B) that the working level 
representative in JUSCANZ is the NZ official who has insisted 
that NZ is not isolated on this issue. Presumably the Permrep 
will be more honest in his appraisal, and he has been given a 
direct line on the issue to Minister Peters. 
 
¶3.  The full text of the letter is as follows: 
 
Begin text: 
 
Dear Ambassador 
 
You called on me with your Australian and Canadian colleagues 
to ask that New Zealand withdraw its opposition to Israel's 
membership of the JUSCANZ human rights group in Geneva. 
 
The government has considered very carefully the points you 
made at that meeting and in your talking points. 
 
New Zealand has sympathy with the view that every UN member 
has the right to participate in UN activities on the same 
basis as other member states and to do that has to be part of 
an electoral group.  For that reason, as you know, New 
Zealand has supported Israel's temporary membership of WEOG 
in New York, on the basis that it does not constitute a 
precedent for automatic membership of WEOG groups in other 
locations. 
 
It is important to be absolutely clear about the government's 
position concerning the JUSCANZ human rights group in Geneva. 
 New Zealand would not oppose any genuine consensus that 
might emerge for Israel to be admitted to that group.  My 
understanding is however that such a consensus does not at 
this point exist. 
 
In view of the significance of this matter to your countries, 
I am instructing the new New Zealand Permanent Representative 
to United Nations in Geneva to follow this issue closely 
himself and to report to me on any developments.  At the same 
time your senior diplomatic representatives in Geneva should 
feel free at any time to raise with Mr. MacKay any issues 
they might have on this or any other policy positions of New 
Zealand as they relate to the Geneva environment. 
 
It is essential especially as the new Human Rights Council 
gets up and running that there is the closest cooperation 
between New Zealand and countries like yours with which we 
share so many interests in common. 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
///s/// 
 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
Minister of Foreign Affairs 
 
End text. 
McCormick