VZCZCXYZ0018
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #2724 3350029
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 010025Z DEC 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 8900

UNCLAS STATE 122724 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
USUN PLEASE PASS GERMAIN AND MASILKO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC KPAL IS
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE: ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTIONS IN THE UNGA 
PLENARY 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action message. 
 
¶2. (U) Mission should call for the vote and vote "no" on 
resolutions put up for adoption on December 1 and 2 dealing 
with the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights 
of the Palestinian People, the Division for Palestinian 
Rights of the Secretariat, the Special Information Programme 
on the Question of Palestine of the Department of Public 
Information of the Secretariat, and the Peaceful Settlement 
of the Question of Palestine, as well as resolutions dealing 
with Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan.  Mission may draw from 
para 3 blocks in making an summary explanation of vote (EOV) 
on anti-Israeli resolutions in the UNGA plenary. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Begin EOV Blocks: 
 
-- Mr. President, with respect to the situation in the Middle 
East, the United States has clearly stated our policy that 
there should be two states, Israel and Palestine, living side 
by side in peace and security. 
 
-- Therefore, we are deeply saddened to once again be 
presented with unbalanced resolutions that -- unlike the 
General Assembly's action with respect to any other member 
state, geographic area or issue -- places demands on Israel 
while failing to acknowledge that both sides have obligations 
and must take difficult steps.  While the United States 
accepts the principle that the General Assembly may look into 
the practices of individual states, the resolutions under 
this agenda item -- in combination with over fifteen other 
resolutions that will come before the General Assembly this 
year, as every year -- form a clear pattern of institutional 
bias directed at one member state of the United Nations. This 
is particularly disappointing because the United States has 
clearly demonstrated its renewed commitment to working with 
international institutions.  We would hope to see in return a 
commitment by those organizations to changing the way they 
deal with issues such as these. 
 
-- Of particular concern to the United States are three 
resolutions concerning entities established more than a 
generation ago that perpetuate institutional bias.  The 
millions of dollars expended on the Division for Palestinian 
Rights of the Secretariat, the Committee on the Exercise of 
the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and the 
Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting 
the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of 
the Occupied Territories, could be better directed toward 
more pressing issues, including direct assistance to needy 
Palestinians, as could the staff resources taken up by these 
entities. 
 
-- We reiterate our call for all member states to review 
seriously the continued existence of these bodies with a 
sharp focus on what, if anything, they actually contribute 
towards a solution to the Middle East conflict. 
 
-- Mr. President, in addition to these three resolutions, the 
General Assembly will consider other resolutions that 
presuppose the outcome of permanent status issues, including 
the status of refugees and the status of Jerusalem.  These 
issues properly belong in bilateral negotiations. 
Resolutions such as these undermine the institutional 
credibility of the UN, as they cast into doubt the UN's 
impartiality.  This, in turn, serves to discredit the UN's 
important role, acting through the Quartet, in supporting the 
resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. 
 
-- We believe that through good-faith negotiations the 
parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the 
conflict and reconciles the Palestinians' goal of an 
independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with 
agreed territoral swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish 
state with secure and recognized borders that reflect 
subsequent developments and meet Israeli security 
requirements.  Our commitment to achieving a solution with 
two states living side by side in peace is unwavering. 
 
-- It is impossible to see how supporting resolutions 
reviewing the mandate of entities with an institutional bias 
or that intrude into the substance of negotiations contribute 
to this effort.  Therefore, we cannot support these 
resolutions and we call on this Assembly to repudiate them as 
well. 
 
End EOV blocks. 
CLINTON