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UNCLAS STATE 064642 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL UNSC KPAL KPKO IS LE
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE: MIDDLE EAST DEBATE, JUNE 23 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request.  USUN should draw from 
the following building blocks for remarks during June 23 
consultations on the Middle East. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Begin building blocks: 
 
It is the policy of the United States to move quickly and 
actively to seek a lasting peace between Israel and its 
neighbors.  We envision two states, a Jewish state of 
Israel and an independent state of Palestine, living side 
by side in peace and security.  We envision a Palestinian 
Authority that can realize the Palestinian people's 
legitimate aspirations and be a genuine party to peace by 
continuing to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and 
accept previous agreements and obligations.  We envision a 
comprehensive peace among Israel and all its neighbors 
that respects Israel's rightful place in the community of 
nations. 
 
The President, the Secretary of State, Special Envoy 
Mitchell, and the entire Administration are fully 
committed to these goals.  We are engaged in serious and 
intensive discussions with our Israeli, Palestinian, and 
regional partners to create the conditions for the prompt 
resumption and early conclusion of negotiations. 
 
We welcome as an important step forward Prime Minister 
Netanyahu's recent recognition of the two-State solution. 
The parties are now working toward a common goal: two 
states, side by side in peace and security.    This is the 
only viable solution to meet the aspirations of both sides 
and achieve the peace we all seek. 
 
Yet all of us realize that even unconditional Israeli 
recognition of a Palestinian State would not be enough to 
bring peace to the region.  The international community, 
through the Quartet, will meet on June 26 to continue to 
advance the international community's efforts to foster a 
lasting peace.  While the Quartet remains the principal 
instrument for international engagement, the Quartet is 
not a panacea.  All parties concerned have unique 
responsibilities and roles to play.  All have both the 
opportunity and the obligation to contribute positively to 
ease tensions and promote stability, both political and 
economic.  All have both the opportunity and the 
obligation to take meaningful steps toward peace and 
normalization of relations between all states in the 
region. 
 
We are pressing all parties equally to take meaningful 
steps.  Israelis and Palestinians have a responsibility to 
meet their obligations under the Roadmap, to which they 
committed in 2003.  It's not just their responsibility; we 
believe it's in their interests, as well. 
 
For the Israelis, that means a stop to settlements, 
dismantling outposts, and other actions.  For the 
Palestinians, that means continuing security reforms and 
cooperation in ending incitement. 
 
For Arab countries, that means taking meaningful steps 
toward peace and normalization.  As the President said 
during his historic June speech in Cairo, Arab states must 
recognize that the Arab Peace Initiative was an important 
beginning, but not the end of their responsibilities.  The 
Arab-Israeli conflict must become a spur for looking 
forward, not back.  Arab states must help the Palestinian 
people develop institutions that will sustain their state, 
recognize Israel's legitimacy, and choose progress over a 
self-defeating focus on the past. 
 
As we work to build an atmosphere for the resumption of 
negotiations, we must also collectively help the 
Palestinians to build the foundations of a state.  Budget 
assistance to the Palestinian Authority will assist it in 
its single highest priority of avoiding fiscal insolvency, 
and such assistance will help ensure that the PA remains a 
credible government able to foster the conditions for a 
future viable, peaceful Palestinian state. 
 
Budget support is not just about paying salaries.  It is 
about building and strengthening Palestinian governance, 
expanding the rule of law, and improving the climate for 
business development and economic growth.  It is about 
providing opportunities for Palestinians to determine 
their own future.  It is about reinforcing transparent 
financial controls and accountability.  It is about 
helping the legitimate Palestinian government meet the 
needs of its people.  It is about supporting the teachers 
and doctors that provide basic services to Palestinians in 
the West Bank and Gaza. 
 
In this regard, the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee continues to 
play a useful role in coordinating donor assistance for 
the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian economy. 
The most recent meeting of June 8 called on donors to meet 
their financial commitments to the PA to ensure its 
continued stability.  The AHLC also highlighted the need 
for donors and the parties to develop the Palestinian 
private sector through targeted investments, increased 
security and the rule of law, and a reduction of 
restrictions on access and movement.  We look forward to a 
productive meeting of the Committee in September. 
 
We also are committed to the PA's efforts, in conjunction 
with the UN and other partners, to improve the lives of 
people in Gaza, as well as in the West Bank.  As Gazans 
continue to suffer under misrule by a group that still 
supports the use of violence and terror, we must redouble 
our efforts to address the basic health, shelter, food, 
and infrastructure needs of the people of Gaza through the 
Gaza Recovery Plan introduced by the PA in Sharm 
al-Sheikh. 
 
We continue to engage the Government of Israel on a daily 
basis on the volume and range of humanitarian items and 
humanitarian workers entering Gaza.  We encourage Israel 
to make it easier to bring humanitarian goods into Gaza 
and to ease restrictions on urgently needed items, 
including critical building supplies.  As part of a 
lasting cease-fire, Gaza's border crossings should be 
opened to permit the robust flow of aid and commerce with 
an appropriate monitoring regime joined by both the 
international community and the Palestinian Authority. 
 
We remain deeply concerned that the continued smuggling of 
weapons into Gaza constitutes a serious and immediate 
threat to regional peace and security, putting innocent 
lives at risk and threatening to set off another deadly 
round of violence.   All states, particularly those in the 
region, must continue to do everything they can to prevent 
this smuggling. 
 
The United States commends the Lebanese people and their 
government and security forces for carrying out a free, 
fair, and peaceful election on June 7.  The Lebanese 
government overcame significant logistical hurdles to hold 
the ballot on a single day.  The shape of Lebanon's next 
cabinet must be decided by the Lebanese themselves, free 
from outside interference. 
 
End building blocks. 
CLINTON