GOES TO VOTE FOR ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTIONS AT UNGA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 001083 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/23 TAGS: PREL UNGA KPAL IS SY LE ES SUBJECT: GOES TO VOTE FOR ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTIONS AT UNGA REF: 09 STATE 118799; STATE 112828 DERIVED FROM: Derived from previous message. ¶1. (C) On November 20, Director General for Foreign Policy Joaquin Maza told PolCouns the GOES was almost certain to vote for at least seven (anti-Israel) resolutions in the spirit of "UN consensus." He said the GOES remains a strong supporter of Israel, and, as evidence of this support, their mission plans to co-sponsor the resolution on Agricultural Technology for Development, an Israeli initiative. Maza listed the resolutions the GOES plans to support as: ¶A. Resolution on the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People ¶B. Resolution on the Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat ¶C. Resolution on the Special Information Programme on the Question of Palestine of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat ¶D. Resolution on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine ¶E. Resolution on Jerusalem ¶F. Resolution on The Occupied Syrian Golan ¶G. Resolution on Assistance to the Palestinian People ¶2. (C) Israeli Ambassador Mattanya Cohen has hit Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez hard over these anticipated anti-Israel votes. This is doubly disappointing for Israel, as Martinez is a beneficiary of a travel grant equivalent to our International Visitor Program. On the other hand, Israel's larger concern is that the GOES not soften its Iran policy. ¶3. (C) Comment: While disappointing, El Salvador's support for a number of Israel-specific UNGA resolutions represents continuity with previous conservative governments, which also tended to vote with the majority on these anti-Israel UNGA resolutions. Unless and until the cost of supporting "consensus" outweighs the perceived benefits, we see little hope the GOES will change course. BLAU