PALESTINIAN NY REP URGES USG SUPPORT FOR UNSC

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000523

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO THE SECRETARY'S PARTY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2012
TAGS: PREL PTER KWBG KPAL IS PA
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN NY REP URGES USG SUPPORT FOR UNSC
ACTION ON SETTLEMENTS

REF: USUN 519

Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Palestinian Amb Riyadh Mansour met at his request
June 13 with Council President Amb Khalilzad to express
Palestinian support for a Saudi draft of an UNSC resolution
calling on Israel to freeze settlement activity. Mansour
argued that there is an international consensus on the
substance of the draft resolution, recalling that the
Roadmap, Annapolis, and the Quartet all oppose new
settlements. He insisted that this is not a polemical
exercise, but a sincere effort to salvage the peace process.
He expressed the view that if the USG supported the draft
UNSCR during the month of June, when the United States holds
the Presidency of the Security Council, Israel will not
perceive the adoption as a hostile act.


2. (C) Amb Khalilzad raised four immediate concerns about
the proposal. First, he noted that the initiative is
one-sided, as it does not address Palestinian obligations
under the Roadmap. Second, he raised the issue of timing,
noting Secretary Rice is scheduled to travel to the region
June 14 to support direct Israeli-Palestinian talks. Third,
he recalled well-justified and longstanding Israeli
sensitivity about any Security Council action on the
Arab-Israeli issue. Fourth, he questioned the impact of such
an effort on the Annapolis process.


3. (C) Mansour argued that the PA leadership, President
Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, have stated that the
Annapolis process is at a deadlock and identified continuing
settlement activity as the key obstacle. Although Mansour
initially attempted to argue that Israeli violations of the
Roadmap are more significant because they "are changing
reality," he subsequently agreed that a resolution calling on
both sides to live up to their obligations would be
acceptable. He insisted, however, that the Palestinian
Authority is fully engaged in the process of implementing its
obligations on security. When Amb Khalilzad raised the
continuing rocket attacks on southern Israel from the Gaza
strip, Mansour retorted that the PA had no authority there.
On timing, he said the Arab Group would be flexible "in
exchange for something concrete" in the Security Council on
settlements. Mansour allowed that Israeli domestic politics
are difficult, but emphasized that continuing settlement
activity endangered the peace process. He suggested that a
statement by the Security Council may be easier for the USG
to support than a unilateral U.S. statement critical of
settlement activity. He also said he had raised the UNSCR
with Israeli PermRep Daniel Gillerman, although Mansour did
not say how Gillerman had responded.


4. (C) Amb Khalilzad made it clear that he had no more
specific response than the four points he had made and said
he would report this conversation. Mansour said the Arab
Group had appointed a delegation comprised of Mauritania,
Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya and the Palestinian mission to
consult with Security Council delegations about the draft
UNSCR. Amb Khalilzad agreed to Mansour's request to meet
with the delegation next week in his capacity as Security
Council President. The two agreed to say they were
consulting on the matter.
Khalilzad