US embassy cable - 05THEHAGUE2853

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 002853 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR IO/UNP - RAYMOND HOTZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, IS, NL, UNGA 
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/ISRAEL/UNGA: DUTCH FOLLOW EU LEAD 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 188933 
 
     B. SECSTATE 188927 
 
1. (SBU) The Dutch are cosponsors of the Holocaust 
Remembrance Resolution and will follow the majority EU 
position by abstaining from voting on the renewal of the 
mandates of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable 
Rights of the Palestinian People (Committee), the Division 
for Palestinian Rights within the UN Secretariat (Division), 
and the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices 
Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and 
Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (Special Committee). 
Piet van der Vliet (Director, International Law Division, 
MFA), Mark Verschuur, and Marieke Tilleman (Deputy Directors, 
International Law Division, MFA) imparted this information to 
POLOFF in response to ref a and b points during a meeting on 
October 20.  POLCOUNS separately delivered ref a and b points 
to Henriette van Lynden, Director of the MFA's Office of 
Middle East and North African Affairs on October 14. 
 
2. (SBU) The Dutch feel little enthusiasm for the three UN 
bodies at issue in ref a, but do not wish to break ranks with 
the EU, Van der Vliet explained.  Tilleman added that, during 
their term in the EU Presidency last year, the Dutch had 
considered attempting to build consensus within the EU to 
abolish all three bodies.  Tilleman demurred when asked why 
the Dutch decided not to follow through with the idea. 
 
3. (SBU) Van der Vliet and Tilleman noted that EU consensus 
on the mandates is not firm; they suspect Malta and Cyprus 
will again break with the majority to vote to renew the 
mandates for the Committee and the Division.  A Dutch "no" 
vote under these circumstances would further divide the EU, 
an outcome that Van der Vliet found undesirable.  Tilleman 
acknowledged that the new Palestinian Ambassador to the UN 
may "soften the edges" of the resolutions but doubted that 
any such revision would lead to a change in the Dutch 
position. 
 
4. (SBU) POLOFF asked Dutch counterparts whether the decision 
by world leaders at the 2005 World Summit to review all UN 
mandates older than 5 years might contribute to a shift in 
Dutch, and EU, policy away from the three UN bodies at issue. 
 Van der Vliet replied that, though he hopes the mandates of 
the three UN bodies are thoroughly scrutinized, the Dutch 
will not "politicize the issue" by aggressively advocating 
for such a review. 
BLAKEMAN