ITALY DOES NOT SUPPORT ARAB GROUP DRAFT UNSCR ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000859 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2018 TAGS: PREL UNSC IS LE SY IT SUBJECT: ITALY DOES NOT SUPPORT ARAB GROUP DRAFT UNSCR ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS REF: STATE 73171 Classified By: A/Pol M/C Gabriel Escobar, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). (C) Poloffs delivered reftel demarche on the Arab Group draft UN Security Council Resolution on Israeli settlement activity to Italian MFA Acting UN Office Director Leonardo Bencini and Acting Near East Office Director Michele Bosio July 9. Poloffs underscored that an unbalanced resolution would be detrimental to ongoing peace negotiations and urged Italy to reject the Arab Group resolution if its sponsors insisted on an immediate vote. Bencini said the MFA had just instructed the Italian delegation in New York to support the US/UK line in the UNSC. Italy believed the Arab Group draft was unbalanced and could negatively influence negotiations between the parties. Bencini said Italy wanted to avoid putting the U.S. in a situation where it was obliged to veto the resolution. Italy would be open to further discussions on a more balanced, comprehensive resolution if negotiations were reopened. Bencini said a rapid call for a vote on the Arab Group draft resolution "would be very unwelcome," and said that the Italian delegation in New York would make that position known. Bosio said FM Frattini discussed the resolution with Israeli FM Livni during his recent visit to Israel. SPOGLI