FM'S VIEWS ON THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

S E C R E T JEDDAH 000559 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREL SA XF SUBJECT: FM'S VIEWS ON THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL REF: STATE 136467 Classified By: Ambassador James Oberwetter for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (S) Ambassador Oberwetter delivered Reftel points on the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on August 21. The Ambassador emphasized tha the HRC has not taken a balanced approach to theIsrael-Hizballah conflict and he questioned why he Council spoke out so strongly against Israel ithout addressing Hizballah's wrongdoings. The M said that the HRC's resolutions were primarilythe result of "Israel's over-reacton to the kidnappings." He said that Israel was not justified in responding with such force and suggested that a more appropriate Israeli response would have been to kidnap two Hizballah militants. ¶2. (S) The FM pointed to the SAG and other Arab states' condemnations of Hizballah for instigating the conflict. "We immediately reacted--as did Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon--and stood against Hizballah" for kidnapping the two Israeli soldiers. The FM also said, "Israel's over-reaction changed the whole tenor and mood in the Middle East," adding that most Lebanese were opposed to Hizballah's provocation. He said that public opinion "would have been completely different if Israel did not over-react," and he accused Israel of using only military force to bring about change in the region. The FM repeated his view that Israel's "over-reaction" prompted the HRC's actions, saying "Lebanon was being harmed but Hizballah was not." ¶3. (S) The Ambassador reiterated that the HRC must be a credible body and cautioned that one-sided messages "erode its credibility." He said that both sides' actions must be equally discussed in order for the HRC to have any merit. The FM agreed that the HRC "should work on both sides," but he warned, "the U.S. should not be too biased to Israel. You should not be so one-sided." Gfoeller