General

1. The 60th General Assembly was concerned with reforms and the UN's attempt at renewal. Indeed, a number of the reforms that the outgoing Secretary General, Kofi Annan, tried to promote were instituted. Among other things, the Human Rights Council was established, a Peace-Building Commission was established, and some changes were made in the secretariat relating to the management of the organization.

2. This year the GA will continue to work on the reforms that remain on the agenda. Mandates that the UN has established over a period of 60 years are still being examined, albeit very slowly, and the reform of the Security Council will be reopened for discussion. This year the international community is marking "The International Year of Deserts and Desertification", in which Israel is participating (an international conference on desertification will take place in Sde Boker in November 2006). Two other issues on the GA agenda this year, prior to the opening of the general debate:  immigration and development, and the issue of Least Developed Countries (LDC's). Israel will participate actively in these forums.

3. This year the world is awaiting Security Council action on issues such as the serious political and humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Iran's nuclear program, conflicts in Africa, the topic of small arms and the situation in countries with recurring problems (such as East Timor and Haiti). Israel is particularly concerned with the situation in Lebanon, following Security Council Resolution 1701 and the end of the war in Lebanon. Other topics are also waiting to be dealt with by the UN; at the top of the list is the expectation of progress in implementing the Millennium Development Goals that were agreed upon in 2000 and that were reinforced by the special session in 2005. And, of course, the situation in Africa: food security, diseases such as malaria and AIDS, elementary education, access to potable water, etc.

Israel's Priorities at the 61st UNGA

4. The topics on Israel's agenda at the coming General Assembly, starting on 12 September, derive from the world agenda with which the GA will be dealing (mentioned briefly above) as well as from Israel's specific interests. The main issues are explained below:

The Northern Border

5. The war in Lebanon, which has recently ended following the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1701, confronts the international community with new challenges. First and foremost among them is the implementation of the Resolution in full. Israel will spare no diplomatic effort to see that this is done, in contrast to resolution 1559, which was never fully implemented. This year will highlight Israel's struggle with terrorist elements that have dominated the politics in our region and dragged the region into war.

Our activity vis-à-vis UN Member States will include also allaying criticism of Israel resulting from the confrontations of the past few months on the Lebanese front and in the Gaza Strip, especially pertaining to the humanitarian situation in these areas. The Secretary General and his staff have been emphasizing the subject of humanitarian damage and the severe damage caused to the environment (Lebanese beaches as well as forests in northern Israel), and have invited other states to take an active part in the worldwide effort to rehabilitate Lebanon. The UN will also deal this year with encouraging states to support the newly upgraded UNIFIL force in Lebanon (UNIFIL 2).

Integration of Israel in Western Consultation Groups

6. Israel is a full member (temporarily, for election purposes) since 2000 in the Western European and Others Group (WEOG). Israel is elected to membership of UN committees, organizations and agencies. This year we are participating, representing WEOG, in the committee on drugs CND, the boards of UNEP and Habitat, the Committee for Sustainable Development (CSD), the Committee for Program and Coordination (CPC), and the UN Committee on NGO's. 

This is an impressive accomplishment, and we fulfill our role with the utmost seriousness in every one of these fora. Israel, however, is not a member of Western consultation groups (JUSCANZ or the like) in most of the UN organizations and committees. Our right to be an active and full participant in the work of these committees, through informal discussions of the western groups, is still being withheld, even in committees to which Israel has been elected to represent WEOG.
 
Mandate Review

7. As mentioned, the 61st GA intends to continue the process of reforms in the United Nations. One such area for reform is the process of review of mandates set up by the UN (the GA, the Security Council or ECOSOC) over the past 60 years, all of which are costly and often redundant. There are several thousands of these bodies or procedures, listed in detail in the UN internet database "Mandate Registry". As a rule, Israel believes it is important to abolish many of these bodies, and agrees with Western states who are interested in furthering speedily the process of review.

Palestinian Organs in the UN

8. Israel believes that the time is right to deal with the mandates of the Palestinian organs in the UN, by abolishing them or merging them with other mandates or organs in the Secretariat. There are at least four such organs that were established by the General Assembly over the years, starting in the late 1960s and continuing until the mid-1980s. During this period of the Cold War, the General Assembly was misused for anti-Israeli, one-sided political purposes and set up the aforementioned organs by means of the pro-Arab automatic majority in the GA. No other existing people, region or conflict ever received as much attention from UN as the Palestinian people.

9. The time and energy spent on promoting the Palestinian narrative was often at the expense of many other topics and conflicts in the world that were more important and cost a much higher price in blood, but which many Member States often preferred not to deal with. In its preoccupation with the Palestinian issue, the GA was for many years a tool of the Arab States, which profited twice over: once, because the GA provided them with an excuse to avoid dealing with other conflicts within the Arab and Muslim world; and, secondly, since it enabled them to pay lip service to the Palestinians through UN actions that cost  little but brought considerable political benefit.

10. Over the years, the GA and the Councils established 120 mandates and procedures relating to the Palestinian issue. These should now be examined to see if they are needed or should be abolished, as the GA is attempting to do with hundreds of other mandates. Every year the GA renews the mandates of Palestinian organs through the familiar annual resolutions. Israel views the maintaining of these mandates and organs as superfluous and one-sided and as a distorted and wasteful use of the resources of Member States against a fellow Member State, whose narrative is neglected.

11. Israel is interested in seeing these organs abolished or transformed into programs that will promote understanding and peace between Israelis and Palestinians. From Israel's point of view, we will encourage the use of  resources, presently earmarked for the Palestinian organs, to directly support programs that promote regional peace, programs that maintain  balance and objectivity appropriate to organs of the United Nations.

12.  In any case, we will not agree that these organs be exempt from the review that other organs undergo as a matter of course.

13. The following are the organs that we would like to see abolished or changed:

a. The Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR) in the Department for Political Affairs (DPA)

• Budget: $5,826,700 (2006-7). This is a heavy burden on the DPA (13% of its budget). The division has 16 posts (compared to a similar number in the Department for Electoral Assistance).
• Established in 1977 by GA Resolution 32/4.
• The mandate: "Logistical and legal aid to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (see "b" below), organization of meetings, operation of a website UNISPAL, production and distribution of material etc."
• Israel wishes to abolish the division and to integrate some of its employees into the Asia and Pacific Division of the DPA.

b. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

• Budget: $61,000 (for travel expenses). The activities of the committee are financed by the Division for Palestinian Rights (see "a" above).
• Established in 1975 by GA Resolution 3375
• The mandate: "To promote the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, to extend aid to Palestinians and to channel international solidarity and support, to publish reports."
• Member states: Senegal (Chair), Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Cyprus, Genoa, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Malaysia, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine
• Publications: "The Question of Palestine" - annual publication, annual committee report, monthly schedule of events and information, tri-monthly bulletin, website with more than 15 million pages, bi-monthly publication of Palestinian NGO's and international organizations that aid the Palestinians, collection of maps.
• Israel requests to abolish this committee that promotes the agenda of one people in a way that is unprecedented in the UN system, presenting the Palestinian narrative at the expense of the Israeli and Jewish narrative.

c. Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories

• Budget: $227,500 (from the operations budget of the Human Rights Commission)
• Established in 1968 by GA Resolution 2443
• The mandate: "To examine Israel's policies and actions in the territories, including Jerusalem, especially violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and to consult the ICRC on this subject;" "to examine the situation of Palestinian detainees and prisoners being held in Israel."
• Member states: Sri Lanka (Chair), Senegal, Malaysia
• Publications and method of operation: The committee publishes an annual report. For this purpose, it meets twice a year in Geneva and in New York and visits the Middle East for a two-week period "to gather evidence about the human rights situation in the territories."
• Israel requests that this committee be abolished. Its activities are superfluous and are duplicated by other organs (the Fourth Committee, the raporteur on the territories, and others).

d. Information Activities on the Question of Palestine in the Department for Public Information 

• Budget: $604,600 (for traveling expenses of journalists)
• Established in 1983 by GA Resolution 38/58E
• The mandate: "To raise the consciousness of the international community regarding the Question of Palestine, to advertise the actions of the UN on this subject, to publish updates, pamphlets, videos, to send delegations to investigate the situation in the territories, to organize seminars and to help the Palestinians in the realm of the media."
• This is a one-sided program and Israel requests to transform it into one that will promote dialogue and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel will cooperate with such a reformed program.

14. To put things into perspective, out of the regular UN budget (not including donations or extra-budgetary funds), the funds allocated for these four Palestinian organs for 2006-2007 is $6.7 million, compared to allocations for development in Africa of $9.7 million (in the Regular Budget).

Annual Resolutions Relating to the Conflict

15. Out of 250 resolutions adopted by the General Assembly every year, about 70 are voted on, and about 20 of these deal with the Israeli-Arab conflict. Among these resolutions are, as mentioned, the four which renew the mandates of the Palestinian organs. Regarding the remaining resolutions, we are interested in promoting two processes: (1) a renewed attempt to combine them into 4-5 resolutions and (2) introduction of amendments to adjust them to today's reality, including the three benchmarks demanded by the Quartet and the international community of the Hamas-led PA.

16. In the past, at least until 1996, the General Assembly and the Main Committees (the Second, Third and Fourth) adopted fewer resolutions, which were comprised of several parts (called "Omnibus Resolutions"). The need to limit the number of annual pro-Palestinian resolutions, or to consolidate them, dovetails with the proposals of the Secretary General and Member States to streamline the work of the GA and to make it more effective.

17. Four resolutions are being adopted that deal with UNRWA (at the 60th GA, their numbers were 100, 101, 102, and 103). The resolutions could and should be combined into one. Under the agenda item "Special Committee for the Territories" there are five resolutions on the agenda (last year - numbers 104, 105, 106, 107, and 108). Also here, the resolutions should be combined into one resolution. In this way, the work of the General Assembly could be made much more efficient. Furthermore, there are four resolutions relating to the agenda item "The Question of Palestine (numbers 36, 37, 38, and 39 at the 60th GA) and two resolutions on the agenda item  "The Situation in the Middle East" (numbers 40 and 41 at last year's GA). These six resolutions could be consolidated into two, thus bringing the organization a step forward in the direction of increased efficiency. In all, the number of resolutions on this topic could easily be reduced from 15 to four.

UNRWA

18. The UN Relief and Work Agency has become, after almost 60 years of existence, the second biggest employer of Palestinians operating in the PA. (UNRWA operates also in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.) UNRWA perpetuates the Palestinian problem, rather than resolving the refugee status of the people or rehabilitating them. It devotes all its resources to three areas that are usually the responsibility of the state or governing authority: elementary education, public health and food security. We believe that it is possible, in the long term, to transfer the daily tasks together with the existing budgets of the Agency to governmental bodies in the PA, and that this should also be done in Jordan and elsewhere.

The Peace-Building Commission

19. This year the GA established the Peace-Building Commission subordinate to the Security Council and the Socio-Economic Council. The Commission, which is charged with coordination between all UN agencies and bodies regarding peace-building and reconstruction in a post-conflict situation, is still searching for its identity and duties in the UN system.

What is already clear is that the Commission will propose ways of rehabilitating government institutions, rebuilding the economy and reestablishing civil society in countries that have recently emerged from a conflict or war. Along with Member States that are major contributors to the UN budget or UN peacekeeping forces, and countries chosen by the GA and ECOSOC, the Commission will include the World Bank and the IMF as members. Although Israel is not a member of the Commission, it supported its creation and intends to follow its work closely. Israel is also committed to contributing to the consultations and to assisting Member States affected by conflict.

Security Council - Reforms and Elections

20. The topic of Security Council reform will also be on the GA's agenda this year. Japan, Germany, Brazil and India are asking to be granted, together with two African Member States, permanent seats on the Security Council. Israel continues to adhere to the position that expanding the Council by ten members, some permanent and some not, will make the work of the Council cumbersome. At the same time, Israel acknowledges the fact that global changes have occurred since the establishment of the UN.

The Human Rights Council

21. In the framework of reforms, the UN upgraded the Commission for Human Rights to the status of a council. Israel voted against its establishment, in a resolution adopted by the GA, together with the US, due to the worry that the new Council would not be an improvement over the Commission it replaced. Indeed, since its first meeting our worries have been confirmed, as the Council discriminated against Israel in the topics under its purview (human rights violations in the entire world vs. human rights violations in Israel). It also decided twice in its short history to enact the new procedure of convening an emergency session - once regarding the situation in Gaza and once regarding Lebanon. In both cases, the Council decided on action against Israel: to send an investigative delegation to the region in the case of Lebanon, and a special human rights report in the case of Gaza.

22. The international community should know that the Council is failing to deal with real humanitarian crises and cases of serious violations of human rights in other parts of the world because it is dealing nearly exclusively with the Middle East and particularly with Israel.

Election of New Secretary General

23. The campaign for the position of UN Secretary General in place of the outgoing Secretary Kofi Annan will end in December, possibly sooner. This is one of the central topics of diplomatic discussion all over the world, especially in Asia, because the understanding is that the new Secretary General will be from Asia. Three previous Secretary Generals were from Europe, two from Africa, one from Latin America and one from Asia, and now it is again the turn of Asia. Israel will take a position in due time.

Israel in the UN

24. Israel is interested in promoting its status in the UN and also in improving the way Israelis perceive the UN and other international organizations. We are planning on launching the first Model UN project in Israel (in Jerusalem high schools). Israel will continue to promote its own candidates for senior positions in the UN, and will try in the future to integrate Israeli army and police officers in UN peace-keeping forces and in UN courses and to increase UN procurement in Israel.

Sustainable Development and Social Topics

25. The year 2006 was declared by the UN as The International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Israel is considered a world leader in this field, specializing not so much in the war on desertification as in the exploitation of the desert to serve humanity's needs. Many countries with arid regions are very interested in this subject and in learning from Israel's experience. The 60th GA noted in its resolution on the subject, 60/200, that Israel will be hosting the international convention on the subject "Deserts and Desertification - Challenges and Opportunities" to take place in Sde Boker later this year.

26. At the opening of the 61st GA, a high-level panel (of heads of states and leaders) will discuss the topic of immigration. This subject has become more and more central in recent years, and the UN approaches it mainly in the context of immigrant women. Israel will be represented at the summit by the Minister for Immigrant Absorption, Mr. Zeev Boim.

27. The central topic of the Committee for Sustainable Development this year will be renewable energy. Israel intends to contribute much to this subject. Israel will also take an active part in General Assembly and committee discussions on the agenda item regarding Persons with Disabilities. Israel welcomes the recently completed convention on this subject, which was drafted with active Israeli participation.

28. MASHAV, the main Israeli avenue for foreign aid, will continue to be Israel's flagship in the realm of assistance to developing countries. This year the UN will convene a summit of LDC's, and Israel intends to present its achievements in the realm of cooperation projects that promote the development of these states and the considerable experience it has accumulated in fields such as food security, agricultural technology and management of water sources, community development and entrepreneurships, empowering of women, public health, and extra-curricular education.