AMBASSADOR RICE'S DECEMBER 16 MEETING WITH UK PERM

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 001147 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2019 TAGS: PREL KPAL KWBG UNSC IS SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RICE'S DECEMBER 16 MEETING WITH UK PERM REP ON MIDDLE EAST PEACE EFFORTS Classified By: Ambassador Susan E. Rice for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) Action request for Department in paragraph 4. ¶2. (C) Ambassador Rice met on December 16 with UK Perm Rep Mark Lyall-Grant, at his request, to discuss Middle East peace efforts. Lyall-Grant asked about current U.S. thinking on the Middle East. He said that Foreign Secretary Miliband is concerned with the current impasse and wants to give PA President Abbas an incentive to return to the negotiating table. Lyall-Grant asked if a Security Council resolution could provide Abbas with the necessary incentive or if there was some other activity at the UN that could be considered. He noted that, given the likely upcoming Council negotiations on Iran, something on the Middle East could be helpful. ¶3. (C) Ambassador Rice agreed that we are currently in a difficult period but referred to U.S. efforts to focus the parties on the language in Secretary Clinton's November 25 statement -- a Palestinian state on 1967 lines with agreed swaps. She said that Special Envoy Mitchell and his team are working with both parties to re-launch negotiations on permanent status issues through a variety of tracks and that the parties are already speaking directly on Israeli - PA institutional matters and security issues. She noted President Abbas' December 15 speech in Ramallah in which he referred to the possibility of a Security Council resolution that would enshrine the 1967 border as a reference point for negotiating the border of a future Palestinian state, but that he also mentioned working with the P-5. She underscored to Lyall-Grant that the USG believes a Council resolution would not be helpful to the negotiating process, as we are trying to move the parties to direct discussions. The Israeli side would likely react negatively to a resolution, and the Palestinian side would likely use the example of a resolution to seek future redress in the Council instead of seriously pursuing direct negotiations. ¶4. (C) Ambassador Lyall-Grant replied that the UK idea would be to link explicitly a Council resolution with a Palestinian return to the negotiating table. Ambassador Rice said she would pass on the idea to Washington but voiced concern that discussion of a Council resolution could further extend the "negotiating about negotiating" process. Washington's preferred use of the Council on Middle East issues is to reinforce progress, not force it, she said. ACTION REQUEST: USUN seeks guidance from Department on UK proposal to link a Security Council resolution to a Palestinian return to the negotiating table, using the proposed Council resolution as leverage. END ACTION REQUEST. RICE