US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO5340

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 005340 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP-HOTZ AND WHA/CAR-SEARBY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, IS, DO, UNGA, Demarches 
SUBJECT: ANTI-ISRAEL BODIES AT THE UN: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
RESPONSE 
 
REF: STATE 220462 
 
1. Embassy on December 7 delivered reftel talking points to 
MFA UN director Michelle Cohen, emphasizing U.S. 
disappointment over the Dominican Republic's change of its 
vote from "abstain" in previous years to "yes" on the 
resolution regarding the Division for Palestinian Rights. 
Political officer also stressed the urgency of considering 
the Dominican position for the scheduled December 8 vote on 
the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices 
Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and 
Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, and urged the MFA to 
instruct the Dominican mission in New York to vote "no." 
 
2. Cohen requested a copy of the draft resolution, which 
IO/UNP provided via fax (Embassy's thanks to Raymond Hotz for 
his quick response).  She undertook to study our request and 
the resolution and seek an MFA decision before the vote. 
Embassy was unable to confirm the outcome. 
 
3. Cohen told us she had been "surprised" by the Dominican 
"yes" vote on the Division for Palestinian Rights.  She did 
not know at what level the decision had been taken. 
HERTELL