Agenda Item 38: The Question of Palestine

Statement by Ambassador Dan Gillerman
Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations

United Nations,
New York, 6 May 2004

Mr. President,

Let me take you back, just four days ago, to show you the real face of the people who are staging this charade here today. Last Sunday a pregnant Israeli mother and her four children - aged 2 to 11 - were gunned down at point blank range. After shooting the mother, eight months pregnant with a baby boy, the terrorists approached the vehicle and shot each of her four little girls in the head, just to ensure that they were dead.

Members of Yasser Arafat's own Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade and the Islamic Jihad proudly claimed responsibility for the "heroic" attack. There are reports of a rally planned in the streets controlled by the Palestinian Authority to "celebrate" it. Like the hundreds of terrorist attacks before it, not a single measure was taken by the Palestinian leadership to prevent this attack or bring its perpetrators to justice.

To any fair-minded observer it should be obvious that the steadfast refusal of the Palestinian leadership to comply with its specific Roadmap obligations to fight terrorism and prevent "all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere" is killing the peace process. The Palestinian rejection of its obligations to take key reform measures, to end corruption and the near religious commitment to missing opportunities that could revitalize the peace process is by now notorious. Indeed, as is well known, the Palestinian side has still not taken on any of its primary, first phase obligations within the Roadmap framework.

And yet, we convene today not to address the massacre perpetrated against the Hatuel family, or to condemn the Palestinian leadership for its involvement in these atrocities, but to consider the latest attempt by the Palestinian side to have the Assembly adopt yet another resolution that advances its partisan, distorted agenda.

Mr. President,

Just two days ago, the Quartet convened in this very building and issued an important statement on the Middle East peace process. Today, the General Assembly has been asked to adopt a text that undermines that very statement.

The statement issued by the Quartet, which includes the UN itself, as well as the European Union, the United States and the Russian Federation, reaffirmed the basic principle that no party should take "unilateral actions that seek to predetermine issues that can only be resolved through negotiation and agreement".

This principle is fundamental to the peace process and has been part of every peace agreement signed between the parties, as well as Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). The Roadmap too, as the Quartet affirmed just 48 hours ago, specifically determines that permanent status issues are reserved for the final phase of negotiations between the parties.

This principle was also recently reaffirmed by Israel in the context of the planned withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. The Quartet in its statement on Tuesday took positive note of that plan and regarded it as "a rare moment of opportunity", recognizing that it has the potential to restart the Roadmap process towards a mutually agreed two State solution - to which Israel remains committed. As Israel has demonstrated, even without a genuine partner in peace, we continue to seek ways to improve the situation and comply with our obligations, while protecting the security and basic right to life of our citizens.

For those who have taken the care to read the details of the plan, it is clear that it is completely consistent with Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, with the Roadmap and indeed with previous peace proposals. In the context of this plan, Israel reiterated its commitment to a negotiated solution to all permanent status issues within the context of the Roadmap, and we do so again today. We recognize the principle that no permanent settlement can be imposed - it must be agreed by direct negotiations between the parties.

Mr. President,

The obligation not to prejudge negotiations is borne of the recognition that a lasting agreement benefiting both peoples can only come through mutual recognition and mutual compromise. No matter how many attempts are made by the Palestinian side to present this conflict as if it were black and white, with rights for Palestinians and responsibilities for Israelis, the truth remains that only a solution that takes the legitimate rights and obligations of both sides into account has a chance of success.

It is worth reminding delegates that Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and the terms of reference of the peace process were deliberately drafted to reflect this principle. Alternative proposals suggesting preordained answers or endorsing maximalist territorial or legal claims were expressly rejected. The need for secure and defensible borders arrived at by negotiation was clearly recognized. Statements by the original drafters of resolutions 242 and 338, the Security Council's own record, as well as the plain text of signed agreements clearly attest to this fact.

Indeed, the very agreement of the parties to resolve permanent status issues - such as borders and settlements - by negotiation is testimony to the obligation to reach an agreed compromise. Compromise does not mean, as the Palestinian side occasionally proclaims, the agreement no longer to seek Israel's destruction. Compromise cannot be created by denying the historic and indigenous ties of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, any more than it can be reached by ignoring the legitimate claims of the Palestinian people. The history is complex. The legal positions are contested. This is the story of two peoples, not of one.

As in other peace negotiations throughout the world, and throughout history, demographic, strategic, political, humanitarian and security realities must also be taken into account to reach a fair and permanent settlement. This is a matter for more negotiations not more resolutions. No amount of rhetoric or automatically generated General Assembly resolutions can alter the agreed terms of the peace process.

Mr. President,

Despite these clear principles, the PLO is once again seeking to involve the General Assembly in final status issues. Just a few weeks ago the Palestinian Observer addressed the Security Council espousing the "principle of achieving a peaceful settlement through negotiations between the two parties and without prejudgment or preemption of final status issues." Today, the Palestinian side returns to a more familiar pattern. As it has done for decades it seeks once again to push a one-sided resolution through the United Nations that attempts to influence the negotiating process.

The resolution presented today presumes to have the Assembly, a political body, "determine" the disputed legal status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the legitimacy of conflicting claims, to the benefit of one party to the conflict, and outside the agreed negotiating process. Like the other drafts before it, the resolution shares the same substantive intent of predetermining issues expressly reserved for negotiations. Once again, the Palestinian side seeks to approach the General Assembly to embrace its maximalist position, rather than negotiate with its neighbor on the basis of a commitment to end the terrorism and renew genuine dialogue.

It is simply not possible to support the principles that were affirmed by the Quartet while at the same time countenancing repeated Palestinian initiatives at the UN that cut across those very principles. The contradiction is obvious. The hypocrisy cries out. And the detriment to the legitimacy and influence of the General Assembly on this issue is unfortunately equally clear.

For the more than 80 states involved in territorial conflicts or with contested borders, the damaging precedent created by these kinds of resolutions is also clear. Using the organs of the UN to circumvent an agreed negotiating process or to advance the positions of one side of a conflict is harmful both to the prospects of peace and to the credibility of the UN States supporting this approach do so to the detriment of both these key interests.

Mr. President,

Already a clearly disproportionate amount of UN time and resources is devoted each annual session to partisan Palestinian initiatives and resolutions that consistently seek to bypass the negotiating process. These texts have done nothing to advance peace, but they have done a great deal to harm the reputation of the UN, and to undermine efforts to re-energize the negotiating process.

We believe it is past time for a different approach. The Assembly should start looking for constructive ways to encourage the parties to move towards Roadmap implementation. And it should stop endorsing even more divisive and controversial texts, under whatever guise, that seek to influence the outcome of a territorial dispute that the parties themselves have agreed to resolve by negotiation.

The resolution presented today offers us no way forward. It contains none of the key elements raised in the Quartet statement, and it undermines a central tenet of the peace process itself reaffirmed by the Quartet. It pretends that law and justice are within the monopoly of one side to the conflict. It misrepresents the true legal status of the 1949 armistices lines and contradicts the terms of reference of the peace process. It is ill-timed, counterproductive and sends precisely the wrong message. It offers the Palestinian side an incentive to avoid negotiations and compliance with their obligations. After all, why bother with these difficult responsibilities, why fight terrorism, when the General Assembly is offering to embrace attempts to circumvent the negotiations, and is determined to withhold any form of admonition for ongoing Palestinian violations that continue to take innocent lives on both sides.

Mr. President,

The Palestinian Observer will no doubt, for lack of solid logic and moral grounding, accuse me again here today of low-level language. So it is important to remember that beyond the diplomatic language that we all use lies a simple truth. It is time to tell the Palestinians - enough is enough! Stop the killings. Stop the terror. Do what you have to do to clean house, and stop abusing our time and the UN's limited resources on resolutions that ignore the genuine suffering on both sides and instead promote initiatives of trivial pursuit.

We urge member States that care about a lasting peace, and that support the Quartet Statement issued just two days ago, to firmly oppose this counterproductive draft resolution.

Thank you, Mr. President.