KUWAIT COOL TO IDEA OF FEWER UNGA RESOLUTIONS WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001165 SIPDIS NEA/ARP, IO/UNP ANDREW MORRISON E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2018 TAGS: PREL UNGA IS PA KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT COOL TO IDEA OF FEWER UNGA RESOLUTIONS WITH ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS REF: STATE 123081 Classified By: Political Counselor Peter O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b an d d ¶1. (C) Political Counselor on November 25 raised with Hamad Bu Rahamah, Counselor in MFA's Department of International Organizations, reftel points concerning the proliferation of repetitive and unbalanced UNGA resolutions with an anti-Israel bias. In delivering the demarche, POLCOUNS emphasized the USG's support for an environment in which Israel and Palestine can live side by side in peace and security, and our concern that a disproportionate focus on one state detracts from UNGA' s ability to deal with other important issues. ¶2. (C) In his response, Bu Rahamah commented that the GOK believes Israeli abuses of Palestinian rights, particuarly the ongoing infringement of the ability of Palestinians in Gaza to obtain regular access to food and other basic needs, constitutes an egregious problem that merits UNGA's ongoing attention. Kuwaitis, he noted, observe the mistreatment of Palestinians every night on their televisions and demand that the GOK support actions to alleviate the situation. Bu Rahamah thanked POLCOUNS for the demarche and agreed to forward our views up his chain of command, but did not suggest that the GOK would be likely to temper its support for these resolutions. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * JONES