Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Thank you Mr President. We thank Jordan for convening today’s meeting and thank Assistant Secretary General Zerihoun for his briefing.
New Zealand is deeply concerned at the recent violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, of which the attempted arson of Joseph’s tomb is the latest example.
In the short term, all sides need to cease violence, refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric and uphold unchanged the historic status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites.
It’s critically important to stop the violence and lower tensions. We recognise that every state needs to protect its citizens. However, we agree with the Assistant Secretary General, that heavy-handed security measures will not resolve this growing crisis.
Unless the parties and the international community address the root causes of the violence, we will see it happen again and again. And each side heaping blame and allegations on the other, while ignoring or minimising its own responsibilities, will only make things worse.
In New Zealand’s view there needs to be urgent progress towards securing a viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and towards the economic and social stability which such a solution promises.
That is the only way to bring an end to the violence.
As my Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said in New York two weeks ago, this is a matter of urgency and a critical issue on which the Security Council must lead.
We believe that the Council has a role to play to generate conditions on the ground that are conducive to negotiations towards a two state solution. And we believe the Council also has a role to play to tell the parties clearly and firmly to get ready to negotiate, and to provide them with a timeframe for commencing negotiations.
We look forward to discussing our ideas, and those of others, at the Open Debate next week, which we think should focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
That debate should also be used by Council members and others as an opportunity to advance the conversations on which the international community can do to bring the two sides together.
This conflict has continued for far too long and resulted in far too many innocent deaths. We are supportive of the idea of a Council statement as the representative of France has just suggested and we look forward to engaging on the text. A statement alone however does not obviate the need for Council action to a resolution or another product to progress the peace process. New Zealand remains convinced that the Council must address this bigger picture and recent events have demonstrated the urgency of doing so.
Thank you.