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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0280/01 0881507
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281507Z MAR 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4010
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 1130
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 1862
RUEHLJ/AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA PRIORITY 0088
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0257

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USUN NEW YORK 000280 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER KPKO KPAL KWBG UNSC SY IR LE
IS 
SUBJECT: RANCOROUS UNSC MONTHLY MIDDLE EAST DEBATE MAKES 
PEOPLE WONDER WHY BOTHER 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  SYG Ban Ki-Moon made an unusual appearance 
during the UNSC's monthly Middle East debate on March 25 to 
beseech the parties and the international community -- 
including the Security Council -- to support the 
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aimed at reaching an 
agreement by the end of 2008.  Despite Ban's appearance, the 
parties quickly turned the debate into a rancorous, 
acrimony-filled exchange, in which Israel, Libya, Syria, and 
Sudan attacked each other for supporting terrorism, targeted 
assassinations, and genocide.  Amb Khalilzad argued that 
heated political statements in the UNGA or the UNSC "do 
little to help advance the cause of peace or help the 
Palestinian people in any tangible way," and questioned the 
utility of the public format of these debates.  Several UNSC 
members expressed sympathy for the U.S. emphasis on the 
disconnect between New York rhetoric and direct negotiations 
between the parties. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary, cont'd.  Most speakers called on the UNSC 
to take a greater role in the conflict, lamenting its 
inability to implement earlier resolutions or to pronounce 
itself on the recent situation in Gaza or the attacks against 
Israel, including the March 6 assault on the yeshiva in 
Jerusalem.  Nearly all speakers criticized Israel for 
continuing to build settlements as a violation of its Roadmap 
obligations and commitments undertaken in Annapolis.   Many 
Council members also condemned the attacks on Israel, 
although most of these states criticized Israel's military 
reaction as excessive, as well.  In addressing Lebanon, most 
speakers expressed concern about the political crisis and 
support for the Arab League plan to resolve it.  In a shift 
in tone, Israel praised UNIFIL's performance and did not/not 
allege arms smuggling into south Lebanon.  Lebanon reiterated 
its support for UNIFIL's plan to end the Israeli occupation 
of the northern part of Ghajar.  End Summary. 
 
¶3. (U) A summary of the public debate, including details of 
all the interventions delivered, is available on the UN 
website at 
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/scact200 8.htm.  A full 
transcript is also available on the same website. 
 
SYG Ban Appeals for Continued Talks 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) SYG Ban, making an unusual appearance at the monthly 
UNSC Middle East debate, expressed alarm about the prospect 
of renewed violence in Gaza and southern Israel and beseeched 
the parties and the international community -- including the 
Security Council -- to support the Israeli-Palestinian 
negotiations aimed at reaching an agreement by the end of 
¶2008.  Emphasizing that negotiations are "the only means" to 
address the legitimate aspirations of both sides, Ban said 
everyone should ask themselves, "If not this, what?  And if 
not now, when?" 
 
¶5. (U) After Ban's speech, DPA U/SYG Pascoe delivered a 
largely factual briefing on developments in the Middle East 
over the past month, including deaths and injuries on both 
sides, including the firing of rockets into Israel and the 
March 6 attack on the yeshiva in Jerusalem, the humanitarian 
situation in Gaza, continued Israeli settlement building, and 
regional efforts to promote Palestinian reconciliation and 
train PA security forces.  Pascoe also briefly discussed the 
situation in Lebanon, reiterating the SYG's full support for 
the Arab League initiative, calling on Israel to cease its 
overflights of Lebanon, and noting UNIFIL's efforts to keep 
its area of operation (AOR) under control. 
 
Parties Exchange Invective and Recrimination 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) In what has become a regular feature of those 
monthly UNSC Middle East debates that are held in public, 
Israel, the Palestinians, Syrians, Sudanese (as chair of the 
Arab Group), and Cuba (as chair of the NAM) engaged in a 
recrimination-filled exchange, with several of these 
countries taking the floor twice to continue the spectacle. 
(Iran tried to join the discussion after Israel blamed Iran 
for providing arms to Hamas; the Russian Presidency 
sidestepped the matter by successfully suggesting that the 
Iranian delegation send a letter to the Security Council in 
reply.)  Palestinian Observer Mansour began the exchange, 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000280  002 OF 003 
 
 
recalling a deputy Israeli Defense Minister's alleged threats 
to inflict a "Holocaust" on Gaza, and asserting that Israel's 
arguments about self-defense do not justify the killing of 
children.  Israeli PR Gillerman railed against the tendency 
of some countries to equate the "lawful state response to 
terrorism" with terrorist acts themselves.  He accused Libya 
of blocking the UNSC from condemning the rocket attacks or 
the attack on the Jerusalem yeshiva, and recalling Libya's 
"long history of terrorism," questioned its suitability for a 
seat on the Council. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Libyan PR Ettalhi, in return, charged Israel with 
trying to "annihilate the Palestinians," in a campaign of 
"ethnic cleansing, war crimes," and "racist apartheid 
measures."  Syria continued this theme, offering a long and 
confusing history of Israeli "state terrorism," and accusing 
the "outlaw" Israeli state of a new "genocide" and 
"Holocaust" in Gaza.  Representing the Arab Group in New 
York, the Sudanese PR repetitively demanded justice of the 
Palestinian cause.  After Gillerman took the floor a second 
time to sarcastically question the value of lectures from 
Sudan and Syria on genocide and targeted assassinations, 
referring to the "assassins of Damascus and the butchers of 
Darfur," the Syrian PR replied that Israel can only attack 
others because it knows a "certain" UNSC permanent member 
will protect it by exercising its veto, as it has "44 times 
previously."  The Sudanese PR, literally shouting in his 
right-of-reply, accused Israel of involvement in Darfur and 
warned that it would not enjoy impunity for its "crimes." 
Gillerman also accused Cuba of failing to represent NAM 
states by omitting any condemnation of rockets or the yeshiva 
attack from its statement.  Cuba responded by insisting that 
the NAM would never abandon its Palestinian brothers. 
 
Focus on Role of UN and Security Council 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Speaking after Israel and Palestine, but before the 
other acrimonious speeches or rights-of-reply by states that 
do not sit on the Council, Amb Khalilzad argued that heated 
political statements in the UNGA or the UNSC "do little to 
help advance the cause of peace or help the Palestinian 
people in any tangible way."  If monthly meetings or open 
debates do not contribute to improving the situation on the 
ground or further complicate it, he said, we should consider 
whether the public format of these debates is constructive. 
Of all the Council members that spoke, only South Africa 
expressed support for public meetings, arguing that the UNSC 
should be more "transparent" in its handling of this issue. 
Panama, which is usually a proponent of scheduling open 
meetings of the Council, said the monthly Middle East debates 
do not help advance the peace process.  Other UNSC members, 
including Russia, China, Indonesia and Vietnam, told USUN 
afterward that they agree the public debate serves little 
purpose. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Although sympathetic to the often counterproductive 
debates, most Council members decried the Security Council's 
inability to implement previous resolutions on the Middle 
East or to reach agreement on text addressing the situation 
in Gaza or attacks against Israel, and called for the UNSC to 
become more involved in the issue.  Libya offered a 
predictable lament, arguing that no other conflict threatened 
international peace and security like the Arab-Israeli 
conflict, and calling on the UNSC to stop "pussy-footing" 
around the issue."  Costa Rica said the UNSC had become "part 
of the problem" and urged UNSC members to stop serving as an 
"echo-chamber" for the complaints of the parties.  Of 
non-Council members, the Palestinian representative insisted 
that the Palestinians would continue seeking redress from the 
UNSC, despite its supposed failure to fulfill its duty in the 
past.  Syria, too, said the Council's failure to "condemn" 
Israel's "illegal siege" of Gaza had destroyed what little 
remained of the UNSC's credibility. 
 
Near-Universal Criticism of Settlements 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) Nearly all speakers criticized Israel for continuing 
to build settlements, especially in and around Jerusalem, and 
called on it to honor its Roadmap obligations by ceasing all 
construction -- including for natural growth.  Several 
suggested ongoing settlement activity contradicted Israeli 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000280  003 OF 003 
 
 
commitments offered in Annapolis.  France "deplored" Israel's 
recent announcement about new construction tenders.  The UK 
and Italy called settlements "illegal" and a threat to the 
peace process.  Russia pronounced itself "disturbed" by the 
growth in Israeli settlement activity and called for a 
complete construction freeze.  Lebanon, acknowledging that 
the Roadmap calls for dismantling of settlement outposts and 
simultaneous PA efforts to end violence, questioned how the 
PA could control violence admist the "immoral, illegal IDF 
siege of Gaza."  Syria and its supporters also condemned 
Israeli settlement building in the Golan Heights. 
 
Criticism of Rockets and IDF Response 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (U) Although most UNSC members condemned the rocket 
attacks on Israel and the shooting at the Jerusalem yeshiva, 
most of these states also criticized the conduct of Israel's 
reaction in Gaza.  Of European countries, Croatia offered the 
strongest defense of Israel's actions, labeling the rockets 
and yeshiva attacks "reprehensible," and declaring there can 
be no justification at all for acts of terrorism.  France 
condemned the IDF incursion into Gaza and said Israeli 
self-defense cannot be applied "indiscriminately."  The UK, 
Belgium and others called on Israel to ensure that its 
actions are in accordance with international humanitarian 
law.  South Africa and Vietnam condemned the rocket and 
yeshiva attacks, while Indonesia remained silent.  Most Arab 
states ignored the attacks altogether or dismissed them as an 
"excuse" or "pretext" for the Israeli incursion into Gaza. 
 
Lebanon: Support for Arab League and UNIFIL 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) When discussing Lebanon, most speakers expressed 
concern about the political crisis and support for the Arab 
League plan to resolve it.  The UK supported Amb Khalilzad's 
call on Syria to cease interfering in Lebanon's domestic 
affairs.  Syria responded with "wonder" to these charges, 
alleging "constant" U.S. interference in Lebanon, including 
the dispatch of the U.S. warships near the Lebanese coast. 
Israel offered a more positive outlook on UNSCR 1701 than in 
past speeches to the Council or discussions with USUN. 
Noting that UNSCR 1701 had changed the strategic reality in 
south Lebanon, PR Gillerman said Israel continues to focus on 
illegal weapons transfers from Syria, the release of its 
soldiers, and preventing the re-armament of Hizballah -- 
which is adapting to UNIFIL's presence.  He praised UNIFIL's 
work on the ground and did not/not allege weapons flows into 
south Lebanon.  Lebanon decried Israeli overflights, 
continued IDF occupation of northern Ghajar, and lack of 
useful IDF data on its use of cluster bombs.  Lebanese PR 
Salam also reiterated the GOL's support for UNIFIL's plan to 
end the Israeli occupation of Ghajar. 
KHALILZAD