GOLDSTONE REPORT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED

C O N F I D E N T I A L COPENHAGEN 000456 SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/RHS:KRAZZOUK AND CENAV, IO/UNP:AMORRISON STATE FOR NEA/IPA:JGIAUQUE USUN NEW YORK FOR ASCHEDLBAUER AND EGERMAIN USMISSION GENEVA FOR MCASSAYRE E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2019 TAGS: PREL PHUM PTER IS KPAL SUBJECT: GOLDSTONE REPORT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 106423 Classified By: (U) Ambassador Laurie S. Fulton; reason 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) Pol-EconCouns delivered reftel demarche the morning of October 14 to Lars Peter Levy and Henrik Kiil of the MFA's Mideast Department; both cover the Mideast Peace Process with rank of Head of Section. Levy replied that Denmark had planned not/not to speak at the UNSC session October 14 but to leave the matter in the hands of the Swedish EU Presidency; in light of the U.S. demarche, Denmark would reconsider. Regarding the HRC session October 15-16, Levy said Denmark would coordinate with its EU partners. He said both the Israelis and the Palestinians should look into the allegations of violations of international law, but was "perfectly aware" that Hamas would not do so. As a practical matter, Denmark expected more from Israel, "a democratic rule-of-law society," without in any way excusing Hamas from its obligations. Levy welcomed the USG's openness to dialogue and agreed on the importance of close coordination to ensure that the handling of the Goldstone Report does not impede the Peace Process. ¶2. (C) Having recently visited the Palestinian territories, Levy said he had been struck by how much political pressure the Goldstone Report was putting on the Abbas/Fayyad government. He therefore understood the need for the Palestinians to have an early discussion of it. Kiil called it "a bit awkward" that the HRC was taking up the Goldstone Report now rather than next March as planned. The EU, with the Swedish Presidency in the lead, would need to find out whether it was possible to negotiate the text of the resolution that he expected the Palestinians to put forward in Geneva. Kiil took note that the USG did not intend to negotiate the text but would vote against any unacceptable resolution. FULTON